Short answer
In Pennsylvania DEP records, the operators that drilled the most wells in 2025 were Expand Oper LLC (69), Range Resources Appalachia (61), EQT Production (56), Seneca Resources (38) and Coterra Energy and PennEnergy Resources (31 each), out of 577 wells. EQT of Pittsburgh ($8.64 billion of 2025 revenue) and CNX of Canonsburg ($2.24 billion) are the largest producers headquartered in the state. Census County Business Patterns counted 475 oil and gas establishments in 2023, employing 14,789 people.
- Pennsylvania produced 7.68 trillion cubic feet of marketed gas in 2025, 17.8% of the US total and second only to Texas (EIA).
- 577 wells were spudded in 2025 (444 unconventional, 133 conventional) by 46 operators; 394 more from January to 29 October 2026.
- Natural gas producers average $216,919 in pay, against $97,302 at support contractors.
- Washington County leads with 65 establishments and 2,531 employees; Warren and McKean counties hold the conventional oil trade.
- Several of the busiest drillers, including Range Resources and Expand Energy, are headquartered in Texas.
On this page
This report is for people looking for Pennsylvania oil and gas employers and contractors, landowners checking an operator, and B2B sellers whose customers are Marcellus producers, conventional operators and the service firms around them.
Who drilled in Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) publishes a wells-drilled-by-operator report from operators' spud notices. For wells spudded in 2025 and in 2026 to 29 October:
| Operator (as DEP lists it) | Wells, 2025 | Wells, 2026 to 29 Oct | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expand Oper LLC | 69 | 66 | Unconventional |
| Range Resources Appalachia LLC | 61 | 40 | Unconventional |
| EQT Prod Co | 56 | 37 | Unconventional |
| Seneca Resources Co LLC | 38 | 12 | Unconventional |
| Coterra Energy Inc | 31 | 23 | Unconventional |
| PennEnergy Resources LLC | 31 | 27 | Unconventional |
| Snyder Bros Inc | 30 | 2 | Unconventional |
| Cameron Energy Co | 26 | 15 | Conventional |
| PA Gen Energy Co LLC | 22 | 11 | Unconventional |
| Repsol Oil & Gas USA LLC | 15 | 29 | Unconventional |
| PennHills Resources LLC | 13 | 29 | Conventional |
In 2025, 46 operators spudded 577 wells: 444 unconventional (the deep shale wells of the Marcellus and Utica) and 133 conventional. From January to 29 October 2026, 40 operators spudded 394 (305 unconventional, 89 conventional). Unconventional drilling is concentrated: 13 operators drilled 10 or more unconventional wells in 2025, and 9 have so far in 2026. Several names are subsidiaries of larger companies: EQT also drills under EQT ARO LLC (17 wells in 2025) and Coterra became a subsidiary of Devon Energy when their merger closed on 7 May 2026, so check the parent in its annual report.
| County, 2025 | Wells spudded | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Warren | 83 | Conventional |
| Washington | 59 | Unconventional |
| Lycoming | 58 | Unconventional |
| Bradford | 55 | Unconventional |
| Tioga | 44 | Unconventional |
| Armstrong | 37 | Unconventional |
| Greene | 34 | Unconventional |
| Susquehanna | 34 | Unconventional |
| Forest | 28 | Conventional |
The companies headquartered here, and the ones that aren't
| Company | Headquarters | 2025 revenue (10-K) | What the filing shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| EQT | Pittsburgh | $8.64 billion | 2,631 gross productive wells in Pennsylvania at year-end, 86 gross wells spudded there in 2025, about 1,523 full-time-equivalent employees |
| CNX Resources | Canonsburg | $2.24 billion | Natural gas development, production and midstream "centered in the Appalachian Basin" |
| WhiteHawk Minerals | Philadelphia | No 10-K yet | Common stock listed on the NYSE as WHK, per its September 2026 8-K |
EQT's 10-K cover gives Pittsburgh, although its SEC company record still shows Canonsburg. Some of the busiest drillers are run from Texas. Range Resources describes itself in its 10-K as "a Fort Worth, Texas-based independent" producing in the Appalachian region. Expand Energy's 2025 10-K lists Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale ("Northeast Appalachia") among its operations, and the company announced in February 2026 that it was moving its headquarters from Oklahoma City to Spring, Texas. For the Fort Worth side, see oil and gas companies in Fort Worth.
Pennsylvania in Census data
US Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, State of Pennsylvania, NAICS 211 (Oil and Gas Extraction), 213111 (Drilling Oil and Gas Wells), 213112 (Support Activities for Oil and Gas Operations) and 324110 (Petroleum Refineries):
| Measure (2023) | Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Establishments | 475 |
| Employees (week of March 12) | 14,789 |
| Annual payroll | $1,917,276,000 (includes a high-noise figure) |
| Average employees per establishment | 31.1 |
| Average annual pay | $129,642 (from payroll that includes a high-noise figure) |
| Share of US establishments | 2.84% of 16,710 |
| Rank among states | 9th |
The payroll total includes the payroll of petroleum refineries (324110), which the Census Bureau flagged as high-noise: the noise it adds to protect confidentiality changed that figure by 5% or more. The employee totals carry lower noise flags, so treat the payroll and average pay as approximate.
| Segment (NAICS) | Establishments | Employees | Average annual pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support activities (213112) | 254 | 7,981 | $97,302 |
| Natural gas extraction (211130) | 97 | 3,160 | $216,919 |
| Crude petroleum extraction (211120) | 68 | 873 | $120,131 |
| Drilling (213111) | 52 | 1,096 | $106,050 |
| Petroleum refineries (324110) | 4 | 1,679 | Not reported |
Pennsylvania is one of only four states, with West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina, where natural gas extraction establishments outnumber crude oil ones in the Census count. The Census Bureau doesn't publish the size split for the four codes combined; in the support segment, 93 of 254 establishments have fewer than five employees.
| County | Establishments | Employees | Mix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington County | 65 | 2,531 | 50 support, 11 extraction, 4 drilling |
| Allegheny County | 47 | 1,174 | 27 support, 20 extraction |
| McKean County | 31 | Not reported | 14 support, 13 extraction, 4 drilling |
| Warren County | 31 | Not reported | 17 extraction, 10 support, 4 drilling |
| Indiana County | 25 | Not reported | 14 support, 11 extraction |
| Greene County | 21 | 500 | 10 support, 6 extraction, 5 drilling |
| Butler County | 18 | 800 | 11 support, 7 extraction |
"Not reported" marks a total the Census Bureau flagged as high-noise: its confidentiality noise moved the value by 5% or more. These are establishments with paid employees, not companies, and exclude the self-employed; head offices are often filed under management of companies (NAICS 55), and pipelines (NAICS 486, 162 establishments in the state) are counted separately.
Gas, oil and refining
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) puts Pennsylvania's 2025 marketed natural gas at 7,675,792 million cubic feet, up from 7,422,303 in 2024, against crude oil output of just 12,000 barrels a day. EIA lists three operating refineries on 1 January 2026, with 268,000 barrels a day of capacity: Monroe Energy at Trainer (190,000), United Refining at Warren (67,000) and American Refining Group at Bradford (11,000).
Finding and checking companies
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| DEP oil and gas reports | Wells drilled by operator and county, permits issued, production, operator well inventory, compliance and inspection reports |
| Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association | Producers, drillers and service companies since 1918, nearly 400 members, based in Warrendale, with an online buyers guide |
| EIA state gas production | Annual marketed gas by state |
| SEC EDGAR | 10-Ks for EQT, CNX and the out-of-state drillers |
To vet an operator, check its DEP compliance and inspection history alongside its wells drilled, and for a public company read the latest 10-K. A clean inspection record matters to landowners and to the larger operators that hire contractors.
Selling to Pennsylvania oil and gas companies
| Account type | Where | Who usually decides |
|---|---|---|
| Unconventional drillers (13 with 10+ wells in 2025) | Washington, Greene, Armstrong in the southwest; Bradford, Tioga, Lycoming, Susquehanna in the northeast | Completions and drilling managers locally; supply chain at head office |
| Conventional operators (25 drilled in 2025) | Warren, Forest, McKean | The owner or field superintendent |
| Support contractors | 254 establishments, many in Washington County | Owner, district manager, HSE manager |
Illustrative example. The seller and its prices are invented; the well counts are DEP data.
Endless Mountains Water (endlessmountains.example) moves and treats water for well completions in northeast Pennsylvania. Its list starts with the 21 operators that spudded unconventional wells in 2025, then keeps those with pads in Bradford, Tioga, Lycoming and Susquehanna counties. Two contacts at each of the 21 (completions manager and water or environmental manager) is 42 people. At a 10% reply rate, about 4 conversations; one operator completing 15 wells a year at $90,000 of water work each is $1.35 million. The spud report shows which pads are coming, so outreach can land before the completion crew does. Bebop can find the operators that match and research each one; see how to build a prospect list for the method.
Next step: see how EQT and the other Appalachian producers rank nationally in the list of the largest oil and gas companies.
Sources
- County Business Patterns (CBP), 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Oil and gas reports: wells drilled by operator and by county, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, spud data for 2025 and 2026 to 29 October, accessed 30 October 2026
- Natural gas marketed production by state, annual, US Energy Information Administration, accessed 30 October 2026
- Crude oil production by state, annual, US Energy Information Administration, released 30 September 2026
- Refinery Capacity Report, Table 3: capacity by state as of 1 January 2026, US Energy Information Administration, 2026
- EQT Form 10-K, fiscal 2025, SEC EDGAR, 18 February 2026
- Form 10-K filings, fiscal 2025: CNX Resources and Range Resources, SEC EDGAR, accessed 30 October 2026
- Expand Energy Form 10-K, fiscal 2025, SEC EDGAR, 18 February 2026
- Expand Energy Form 8-K: headquarters relocation, SEC EDGAR, 9 February 2026
- Devon Energy Form 8-K: completion of merger with Coterra Energy, SEC EDGAR, 7 May 2026
- Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association, PIOGA, accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
What are the biggest oil and gas companies in Pennsylvania?
EQT, headquartered in Pittsburgh, is the largest based in the state, with $8.64 billion of 2025 revenue and 2,631 gross productive wells in Pennsylvania. CNX Resources of Canonsburg reported $2.24 billion. By wells drilled in 2025, DEP records put Expand Oper LLC, Range Resources Appalachia and EQT Production at the top, with 69, 61 and 56 wells.
How many oil and gas companies are in Pennsylvania?
Census County Business Patterns counted 475 oil and gas extraction, drilling, support and refining establishments in Pennsylvania in 2023, with 14,789 employees, ninth among states. That counts locations with paid employees, not companies. In DEP records, 46 operators spudded at least one well in 2025, and the Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association has nearly 400 member companies.
Where is natural gas drilled in Pennsylvania?
In 2025, DEP's spud report counted the most unconventional wells in Washington (59), Lycoming (58), Bradford (55) and Tioga (44) counties, followed by Armstrong, Greene and Susquehanna. Warren (83) and Forest (28) counties led for conventional wells. Pennsylvania produced 7,675,792 million cubic feet of marketed gas in 2025, second among states, according to EIA.
What is the difference between conventional and unconventional wells in Pennsylvania?
In DEP reporting, unconventional wells are those in deep shale formations, such as the Marcellus and Utica, that need hydraulic fracturing to produce at commercial rates; conventional wells tap shallower formations and are often run by small companies. In 2025, 444 of the 577 wells spudded were unconventional, drilled by 21 operators, and 133 were conventional, drilled by 25.
How do I check an oil and gas operator in Pennsylvania?
Use the Department of Environmental Protection's oil and gas reports: the operator well inventory, wells drilled by operator, the compliance report and the inspection reports viewer. Together they show how many wells a company runs, how active it is and whether inspectors have found violations. For a public company, also read its latest 10-K on SEC EDGAR.