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18 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jan 1-7

There were 18 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica during the first full week of 2024 (Jan. 1-7), versus 24 permits issued for the final two weeks of last year (Dec. 18-31). Pennsylvania issued 9 new permits last week. Ohio issued just 1 — which was to drill a Marcellus (not a Utica) well! West Virginia issued 8 permits. Antero Resources took the top spot last week with 7 new permits, all of them issued for drilling in Wetzel County, WV.
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Bad Guys Win: PA General Energy to Plug Grant Twp Injection Well

Since 2015 we’ve reported on the case of Grant Township (Indiana County, PA), a town that passed an ordinance cooked up by the radical Big Green group Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) to try and block a state-approved injection well proposed by Pennsylvania General Energy (see our Grant Township articles here). There have been number of legal twists and turns–with Grant and the CELDF losing every single time. We have a very sad update to share: Pennsylvania General Energy (PGE), the builder seeking a permit to expand a depleted well to use as an injection well, is throwing in the towel.
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Grant Twp Asks PA Supreme Court to Ban Injection Wells

Since 2015 we’ve reported on the case of Grant Township (Indiana County, PA), a town that passed an ordinance cooked up by the radical Big Green group Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) to try and block a state-approved injection well proposed by Pennsylvania General Energy (see our Grant Township articles here). There have been number of legal twists and turns–with Grant losing every single time. In a Hail Mary move, the township (and its CELDF-paid attorneys) appealed a Commonwealth Court decision to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The new (and good) news is that the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is still fighting Grant’s illegal attempt to regulate oil and gas within the township.
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Grant Twp Charter Banning Injection Wells Heads to PA Supreme Court

Since 2015 we’ve reported on the case of Grant Township (Indiana County, PA), a town that passed an ordinance cooked up by the radical Big Green group Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) to try and block a state-approved injection well proposed by Pennsylvania General Energy (see our Grant Township articles here). Last summer, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled against Grant’s attempt to override state law with its own home-cooked regulations (see Grant Twp Charter Banning Injection Wells Struck Down by PA Court). However, Big Green CELDF appealed the case to its favorite group of lefty Democrats–the PA Supreme Court–which accepted the case.
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32 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Dec 12-18

Last week (Dec. 12-18), the number of permits issued to drill new shale wells in the Marcellus/Utica bumped up nicely to 32, up from the prior week’s 20. Both Pennsylvania and Ohio issued 16 new shale permits each. West Virginia got skunked and issued none.
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21 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Nov 28-Dec 4

Last week (Nov. 28-Dec. 4), the number of permits issued to drill new shale wells rose slightly to 21 from the prior week’s 17. The big surprise is why. Pennsylvania only handed out five new permits. Ohio issued even fewer–just three. It was West Virginia with 12 new permits that saved the day.
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21 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Sep 12-18

Last week the three states with active Marcellus/Utica drilling, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, issued a collective 21 new drilling permits, down from the 30 permits issued the week before, and down from the 40 permits issued the week before that. The trend is not our friend right now. PA issued 13 permits, and OH and WV issued four permits each.
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30 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Sep 5-11

Last week the three states with active Marcellus/Utica drilling, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, issued a collective 30 new drilling permits, down from the 40 permits issued the week before. PA roared back to life by issuing 21 of the 30 permits, with OH issuing just three and WV issuing six.
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Grant Twp Charter Banning Injection Wells Struck Down by PA Court

Since 2015 we’ve reported on the case of Grant Township, a town that passed an ordinance cooked up by the radical Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) to try and block a state-approved injection well proposed by Pennsylvania General Energy (see our Grant Township articles here). Are we finally coming to the end of this nonsense? Yes! PA Commonwealth Court recently ruled against Grant’s attempt to override state law with its own home-cooked regulations.
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34 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 13-19

We finally started to see more permits issued again last week. After the Marcellus/Utica was in the permit doldrum for nearly a month, bumping around at 20 permits or below, last week the number increased to a total of 34 permits issued to drill new shale wells. Pennsylvania issued 13 new permits, with seven of them going to Coterra Energy in Susquehanna County on the same pad. Ohio issued 14 new permits, with 12 of them going to Ascent Resources distributed across four different counties. And West Virginia issued seven new permits, all of them to Antero Resources, all in Doddridge County.
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6 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 23-29

It appears the wind has gone right out of the sails when it comes to issuing new permits for shale drilling in the Marcellus/Utica. For the week of May 23-29, only six new permits were issued. Four of the permits were issued in Pennsylvania, two in West Virginia, and none in Ohio. This is the lowest number in a single week we’ve seen in maybe forever. A measly, lousy six permits!
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24 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 16-22

Just last week MDN told you we will, from now on, bring you new permit data for the previous week on Fridays. Yet here it is Thursday and we’re sharing the permit data for last week. What gives? MDN and its author, Jim Willis, are taking a break Friday (tomorrow) and next Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. Well, we’re taking Monday off for the holiday. We’re taking Friday off because there’s a wedding in Jim’s family this weekend. There are preparations to make, and celebrations to partake in. So we’re bringing you the permit data today, on Thursday. Speaking of which, there were 24 new permits issued last week, with 14 of them going to Pennsylvania, seven to Ohio, and three to West Virginia. We break it down below.
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35 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 9-15

We’re giving Fridays a shot as the day we will release weekly updates for permits issued for the prior one-week period. Today’s report is for the period of May 9-15 (last week, not this week). It seems as if the various state agencies have the data updated by the end of the week following, so that’s how we’ll release it (for now). Last week, Pennsylvania issued 22 new permits with Seneca Resources taking the lion’s share of 12 permits on two different pads (eight in Lycoming County and four in McKean County). Repsol scored four permits in Bradford County.
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35 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 25-May 1

Last week Pennsylvania issued 16 new shale well permits. EQT led the way with ten permits, all of them for wells in Greene County. You just HAVE to read the names of the wells (below). After getting skunked for two weeks in a row, Ohio finally issued permits once again last week–ten of them. Ascent Resources scored six permits, mostly in Belmont County. Encino Energy had four permits, all in Carroll County. Finally, West Virginia had nine permits. Antero Resources scored seven of the nine (six in Wetzel County), and Southwestern took the remaining two permits (both in Marshall County).
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PA DCED Invests Another $3.2M in “Last Mile” PIPE Grant Projects

Pennsylvania’s Pipeline Investment Program (or PIPE) issues grants covering part of the cost for building new natural gas pipelines to connect homes and businesses, typically in rural parts of the state, to homegrown Marcellus Shale gas supplies. We’ve written about many of the PIPE grant projects in the past (see our PIPE stories here). Three more PIPE grants were announced yesterday by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Community and Economic Development (DCED), grants totaling $3.2 million.
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18 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jan 10-16

Last week 18 permits were issued to drill new shale wells in the Marcellus/Utica, down from 24 the week before. Pennsylvania had the most new permits with 12, mostly in the northeastern part of the state in Lycoming and Susquehanna counties. Ohio had four permits evenly divided between Columbiana and Harrison counties. West Virginia had just two lonely permits, one in Lewis and one in Wetzel counties.
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