American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2024 - 35

says some small wells may be exempt,
but it has not told us how to calculate
that. Our operators want to be good neighbors
and good stewards of the environment,
but EPA's goal line keeps shifting. "
Open To Opportunity
Although the industry's figurative landscape
has changed repeatedly since Huntley
& Huntley's 1912 founding, Hillebrand
reflects that the company keeps adapting
by reinventing itself. When he was a
service company petroleum engineer in
the late 1990s and had the opportunity to
buy into Huntley & Huntley, it focused
on consulting. He chose to take the plunge
based on a widespread industry perception
that the company's seal of approval on a
project constituted the gold standard.
Almost immediately, Hillebrand continues,
the company redirected itself based
on what he had witnessed during an earlier
career stint working for an independent
power producer in the Northeast. " I saw
how much natural gas those gas-fired
power plants were consuming, " he clarifies.
" It seemed like a good time to get in front
of what looked like a pretty bullish environment
for owning gas reserves. "
The company developed its own reserves
for more than a decade, and by
2008 had drilled 480 vertical wells in the
Northeast and obtained interests in another
500 scattered throughout the country,
Hillebrand relates. However, it decided
to shift to natural gas development utilizing
horizontal drilling technology in unconventional
reservoirs.
" We sold all our conventional production-not
only here, but in the Permian
and Oklahoma as well-and now are
strictly unconventional, " he relates. " It
was another sea change for the business. "
As of early 2024, he reports, Huntley
& Huntley's Pennsylvania shale development
company, Olympus Energy, holds
100,000 tier-one Marcellus and Utica
acres in Pennsylvania's Allegheny and
Westmoreland counties. The company is
running one drilling rig and one dedicated
all-electric fracturing crew, he notes, an
activity level that may expand or contract
according to commodity price trends. He
adds that the company is producing approximately
550 million cubic feet a day.
Although the area's terrain may strike
some producers as a steep challenge, Hillebrand
says such misgivings are unfounded
for those who know the area well. " Developing
480 conventional wells in this
exact same neck of the woods has taught
us a lot, " he assures. " We have a knowledge
base that includes knowing the local authorities
within these jurisdictions, where
we already have built very strong, honest,
transparent relationships. "
MARCH 2024 35
Spring Meeting
Hillebrand says he is looking forward
to seeing old friends and making new
ones when PIOGA gathers on April 18
at the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh. " It's
so good to see familiar faces and to also
develop relationships with people I do
not know, " he remarks. " There can be a
lot of entrepreneurial brainstorming going
on during those conversations. "
According to Weaver, PIOGA has
nearly finalized the event schedule. " We
are excited about another great agenda, "
he describes. " Last year, so many people
told me the event was one of our best,
but I think this year is going to top it. "
The convention will include an operators'
panel, he says, which should help
demonstrate the extent to which companies
of all types wrestle with many of the
same issues. Other presentations will explore
prominent legal challenges and consider
the outlook for markets.
" Jeff Eshelmann from the Independent
Petroleum Association of America will
speak in the afternoon, and Toby Rice
from EQT will speak at our luncheon, "
he adds. " I am excited and optimistic for
this year's spring meeting, and want
people to come and engage. "
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American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2024

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