Finance
Marcellus Assets Create New Financing Possibilities
Separation vessel at the Devon Enrgy SAGD plant under construction south of Fort MacMurray in north Alberta. (Photo by Adrian Greeman/Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images)
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Just a few short weeks after completing a $58B merger with Coterra Energy earlier in May, Devon Energy received an offer of $8B for its shale assets in the Marcellus region of Pennsylvania. The offer, from money manager Stone Ridge Asset Management, covers about 190,000 net acres and could become the largest asset-backed securitization funding ever attempted in the United States oil and gas sector. (Source).
As noted in Business News Today, the Coterra merger gave Devon both assets and exposure across the Marcellus, Anadarko, Eagle Ford and Williston Basins, with the attendant risks and opportunities. Devon must now show that it can handle such varied assets, or else divest itself of those not related to its core business.
The Marcellus assets are expected to account for approximately twenty percent of Devon’s 1.6M barrels of oil equivalent (boe)/day production forecast in 2026. (Source). Part of the importance of the Stone Ridge offer is that it provides a clear price point for Devon’s Marcellus assets, and not a theoretical framework for discussion of value. While Devon DEO Clay Gaspar has indicated that Devon might divert some non-core positions, the company recently has been in an expansion mode. On May 20 it was the biggest buyer of oil and gas drilling rights on federal land in New Mexico and Texas at an auction held by the federal government. In fact, Devon was responsible for $2.5B out of the total $4B sale, a record for such auctions.
Regardless of whether Devon accepts the Stone Ridge offer, the fact of the offer itself shows the value of such wells in Pennsylvania. As of February 2026, the Keystone State has 281,000 wells which produce an average of 1,073,895 million cubic feet (mcf) per natural gas well. (Source). That makes Pennsylvania the second largest producer of natural gas in the United States, accounting for approximately 19% of the national total. (Source). This is an extraordinary statistic given that approximately twenty years ago Pennsylvania had almost no natural gas industry at all.
Pennsylvania’s natural gas reserves doubled from 2013 to 2023 and now reaches an estimate of 101 trillion cubic feel (Tcf). (Source). As the state uses only about one-quarter of the natural gas that it produces, Pennsylvania truly becomes the “keystone” for surrounding states in providing natural gas, especially to states north and east like New York, which has plentiful natural gas reserves but chooses not to develop them, or New Jersey which has limited reserves.
In addition, the Marcellus Basin assets have demonstrated low decline rates. As such there is talk that these assets might lend themselves to securitization of individual wells, which could be appealing to potential investors looking for an interest in energy assets. This is made possible by the lower depletion rates, making these assets attractive to investors over the longer term. (Source).
Likely then, Stone Ridge would partner with an operator to extract the natural gas while using its financing skill to develop, produce and sell an investment vehicle. If successful, this could help revolutionize the energy industry – at least in the Marcellus – and drive up even further the value of Marcellus assets.
However the Stone Ridge offer for Devon’s Marcellus assets shakes out, it could be that the big winner is Pennsylvania. Unlike New York, Pennsylvania welcomed the energy industry, and that industry may continue to make Pennsylvania a strong place to do business into the middle of the twenty-first century.
MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – A Mobile County grand jury has indicted the former finance director for the city of Semmes on ethics and theft charges.
Heather Renee Davis, who also previously served as city clerk for the city of Satsuma, faces a 12-count indictment. Ten of the counts are ethics violations.
Allegations
Prosecutors allege Davis improperly used her public positions in Semmes and Satsuma for personal gain, including misappropriating public money and resources.
Two counts accuse her of first-degree theft by deception involving amounts over $2,500. One count is tied to the city of Semmes and one to the city of Satsuma.
Arrest and bond
Jail records show Davis was arrested and later released after posting a $60,000 bond.
Copyright 2026 WALA. All rights reserved.
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* When it comes to campaign finance laws, both parties’ campaign committees have faced restrictions on how much money they could spend in coordination with candidates’ campaigns. Those limits are now effectively gone.
As MS NOW’s Jordan Rubin explained, “The Supreme Court’s GOP-appointed majority ruled for Republicans in their campaign finance challenge to restrictions on political parties spending on ads with input from the party’s candidate.”
A Punchbowl News report added that the ruling, written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, “handed Republicans a massive win” and is likely to “usher in the biggest change to campaign finance law since the Citizens United decision.”
The same report went on to note that Tuesday’s high court ruling “allows for unrestricted coordination between candidates and party committees. That means committees, like the NRSC or the DCCC, can run unlimited TV ads with allied candidates. More importantly, they can also buy those ads at the much cheaper rate offered to candidates. … Tuesday’s SCOTUS ruling will also eradicate the need for independent expenditure arms at party committees.”
Republicans already enjoyed a significant financial advantage over Democrats. The Republican-appointed justices just made it easier for the GOP to capitalize on that advantage.
* In Colorado’s closely watched Democratic primaries, incumbent Sen. John Hickenlooper fended off a challenge from the left, but some of his colleagues weren’t as fortune: Democratic socialist Melat Kiros ended long-serving Rep. Diana DeGette’s career in Denver’s congressional district, while state Attorney General Phil Weiser scored a major upset by defeating incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet in a gubernatorial primary.
* In the race for North Carolina’s open Senate seat, former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper leads former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley in the latest New York Times/Siena poll, 50% to 43%, pointing to a possible pickup opportunity for Democrats.
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