Michigan-based driller Arbor Resources leased a bunch of land in southeastern Pennsylvania six years ago–in Bucks County (in the orbit of Philadelphia). Specifically, they leased land for gas drilling in Nockamixon Township. There is no Marcellus Shale in that area, but there are other formations, including the South Newark Basin. Arbor wanted to drill a few test wells for natural gas in the area, but the town opposed it and went to court to block it. Then in 2012, some squishy liberal Republicans shamefully snuck an eleventh hour ban on drilling in the South Newark Basin until more “studies” could be done into the 2012 budget (see Republicans Sneak SE PA Drilling Ban into Budget Deal).
With continuing low prices for natural gas, six years of legal issues with Nockamixon Township, a ban by the Delaware Basin Commission in effect in that area, and a state-enforced ban from RINOs in place, Arbor is throwing in the towel and walking away from Nockamixon and southeast PA. Good riddance for Arbor, no doubt. Goodbye tax revenue, goodbye jobs and goodbye millions of dollars of investment for Nockamixon…
