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Hilcorp Well Pad Approval Conundrum in Lawrence County Resolved

In May MDN told you about an unusual case in Pulaski Township (Lawrence County), PA where all three Board of Supervisors had a potential conflict of interest if they proceeded to approve a well pad for Hilcorp (see Conflict of Interest Prevents Hilcorp Wellpad Approval, What Now?). The proposed well pad would sit on one of the supervisors’ property. A second supervisor owns land adjacent to the first and his land would presumably be located in the first’s drilling unit. So they were both out of the running to make a motion. The third supervisor works for Hilcorp, so she couldn’t make the motion. We asked the question, what next? Now we know. A provision in Pennsylvania state law, according to a legal notice filed by Hilcorp, states that a decision “is deemed to have been rendered in favor of the applicant” after Hilcorp published legal ads on July 9 and 16. Anyone who wants to challenge it has 30 days to do so in the PA Court of Common Pleas (county court). No comment from anti-drillers at The Fracking Resistence, Lawrence County, PA (so far) other than to note that on their Facebook page that Supervisor Sam Varano will get a well pad after all…
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Rex Energy Drilling 1st Utica Shale Well in Lawrence County, PA

Exciting news from “the little drilling company that could…and does,” as MDN likes to call Rex Energy. Last week Rex released an operational update with the big news that they will drill their very first dry gas Utica Shale well in Lawrence County, PA (near the Ohio border) in the third quarter of 2015. Rex also brought online another two Marcellus Shale wells in Butler County, PA…
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Tackling a Tough Issue: Compressor Stations Near Populated Areas

tough issuesThere’s no denying that compressor stations located in populated neighborhoods create problems. We have two examples to share–one from Lawrence County, PA, and one from Broome County, NY (MDN’s backyard). The usual complaint about compressor stations–required to compress natural gas and send it on its way through a pipeline system–is the noise. Noise seems to be the chief issue with a compressor station in Lawrence County, PA where landowners, many of them (most? all?) have signed leases with Hilcorp, the company that owns the compressor station in Mahoning Township, a township that borders Ohio. Although noise has also been an issue at the compressor station in the Town of Windsor, NY (Windsor borders Pennsylvania)–about five miles from the border of the City of Binghamton–noise at the Williams compressor station is now largely mitigated. In the case of the Williams compressor, the concerns by those who live closest to it are regular releases of mercaptan and constant truck traffic to and from the station…
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Conflict of Interest Prevents Hilcorp Wellpad Approval, What Now?

A strange ending occurred at the Pulaski Township (Lawrence County), PA Board of Supervisors meeting Monday night. The marathon four hour hearing saw Pulaski’s three Supervisors (actually, two of the three) approve one of two conditional use permits to allow Hilcorp to construct a wellpad on the property of Victor A. Litwinovich on Topper Hill Road–much to the consternation of anti-fossil fuel ninnies who were present. But when it came to approving a second Hilcorp wellpad–on the property of Sam Varano and his wife, Beverly, on Evergreen Road–the board couldn’t get a single motion among the three Supervisors to approve it. Why? Because one of the Supervisors is Sam Varano himself–a clear conflict of interest. A second Supervisor is Greg Carna, who owns land adjacent to Varano that is leased to Hilcorp and, presumably, would be included in the Varano well drilling unit–also a conflict of interest. That left the third Supervisor, Lori Sniezek, who won’t vote any Hilcorp matters because she is employed full-time by Hilcorp. Ethics rules barred any of the three from making a motion to approve the wellpad. Without a motion, Varano gavelled the marathon session to a close. What will happen next?…
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Rex Energy to Sell Acreage in OH & PA, Focus on 3 Counties

Last week MDN brought you the first quarter 2015 update for State College, PA-based Rex Energy (see Rex Energy 1Q15: Production Up 61%, Revenue Down 33%, Gulf Coast Deal). Rex’s management held an earnings call later that day, and as is typical, a some important news was revealed on that call that was not included in the press release update. Namely, Rex is looking to sell it’s leased Utica Shale property in Belmont, Guernsey and Noble counties in Ohio. They also plan to sell leases in Westmoreland, Clearfield, and Centre counties in PA. When it’s all over and done, Rex will be concentrating on just three counties…
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Hilcorp to Build New Gathering Pipeline in NWPA

Hilcorp remains very active in northwestern PA. The company has filed paperwork and plans to build several new pipelines in Lawrence and Mercer counties. They will build a buried gathering line (what they call the Weiser-Varano pipeline), a buried “fluids pipeline” and an above-ground temporary water pipeline. The details as we know them…
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Full Speed Ahead for Hilcorp in the Northern Utica in 2015

In 2014 Hilcorp spent some $400 million on drilling in the *northern* Utica Shale play–an area that virtually everyone else has abandoned for the more alluring wet gas to be found in the southeaster portion of the play. According to Hilcorp, they are enjoying success in the northern Utica and that’s where they will continue to focus their efforts…
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Hilcorp Drops Forced Pooling Request in W PA

On a day filled with big news, here’s even more big news: Last Friday Hilcorp announced they would withdraw their request for forced pooling for several properties in Lawrence County, PA. As MDN has reported a number of times, this issue has now gone on for years. As we’ve also told you, PA law allows Utica wells to be pooled under a 1961 law (below a certain depth), but Marcellus wells cannot be pooled. Just last week the state Dept. of Environmental Protection rescheduled new hearing dates–for the 4th time! (see PA DEP Rescedules Hilcorp Forced Pooling Hearing 4th Time). Now it’s a moot point. Here’s the kicker: the three families with a combined 35 acres that didn’t want to lease won’t see a penny from Hilcorp, while their neighbors will rake in the big bucks. All of the same truck traffic, etc. will still happen for the obtuse people who didn’t want to sign–except now they get all of the headaches and none of the benefits. Sounds like a real “win” to us!…
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PA DEP Rescedules Hilcorp Forced Pooling Hearing 4th Time

Hearings on Hilcorp’s request to force a few recalcitrant property owners with a total of 35 acres in the middle of land leased by Hilcorp to allow Hilcorp to drill have now been rescheduled for the end of October. This is the fourth time these hearings have been rescheduled by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). Why the ongoing delays for these hearings?…
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Third Time the Charm? Hilcorp PA Hearing on Forced Pooling Resched

In Pennsylvania, there is no forced pooling law for Marcellus Shale wells. Forced pooling laws typically say if a majority of landowners are leased in a drilling unit (640 acres, or one square mile), the driller can “force” the other landowners not signed to allow drilling under (not on) their land. However, there’s a loophole in PA for Utica wells. Because Utica wells sit below the Onondaga formation, a 1961 PA law allows forced pooling for Utica wells. Hilcorp is attempting to use that loophole in Lawrence County, PA to force a few recalcitrant landowners to allow drilling (see Hilcorp Lawrence County, PA Forced Pooling Case Update). Hearings on Hilcorp’s forced pooling request have been scheduled and canceled–twice (first in March, then in May). We now have a third date for the hearings–in September…
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Hilcorp Lawrence County, PA Forced Pooling Case Update

updateToday we give you an update about the ongoing forced pooling case by Hilcorp in Lawrence County, PA (see Hilcorp Uses PA Forced Pooling Law Against Lawrence Cty Landowner). We have new information, we break the issue down and explain it in detail, and we offer our own opinion on potential outcomes…
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New Hearing Dates for Hilcorp’s Forced Pooling Request in PA

Last October MDN told you about Hilcorp’s request to force some Pennsylvania landowners in Lawrence County, PA to allow Hilcorp to drill under (not on) their property in the Utica Shale layer (see Hilcorp Uses PA Forced Pooling Law Against Lawrence Cty Landowner). After much tooing and froing, the PA courts told the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) that the DEP would need to make the decision (see Ironic: PA Enviro Court Forcing DEP to Rule on Forced Pooling). The DEP set a public hearing for March 25 & 26 in Lawrence County, and then postponed it (see Hilcorp Forced Pooling Hearing Postponed, More Landowners Added).

We finally have final final final hearing dates from the DEP–May 7 & 8. Here’s the lowdown from the DEP, in which they say the hearings will be conducted “like a trial”…
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Hilcorp Forced Pooling Hearing Postponed, More Landowners Added

postponedMDN previously told you about Hilcorp’s lawsuit to force some hold-out landowners in Lawrence County, PA to allow drilling under their land–a concept called forced pooling. The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the PA courts treated it like a hot potato. The courts finally told the DEP that they (the DEP) would need to decide the matter. So the DEP had set aside two days this week to conduct public hearings in New Castle (see Forced Pooling Circus (ie Hearing) Coming to Lawrence County, PA).

However, the circus/hearing scheduled for this week has been postponed. No new date has been announced. The DEP and Hilcorp both wanted the delay offering the explanation that they need more time, “to provide more complete notice to potentially affected people.” Apparently some landowners haven’t yet been served notice that they will be affected–forced–to be part of a Hilcorp drilling unit, and both Hilcorp and the DEP want them to know it before the public hearing commences. Seems like the forced pooling in Lawrence issue keeps getting better and better (not)…
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Hilcorp Awarded Permits to Drill 7 New Wells Near Earthquake Zone

Oh oh. It appears one hand does not know what the other is doing. Last week a new series of small earthquakes–barely able to be felt, but there all the same–rumbled through the Mahoning Valley–near Youngstown, OH. Because of injection well related earthquakes near Youngstown two years ago, residents are understandably jittery and wonder if the drilling industry is somehow at fault with this new outbreak. So the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR), out of what they call “an abundance of caution,” asked Hilcorp to stop all drilling and fracking activity in the area (see # of Youngstown Earthquakes go from 2 to 11 – Fracking to Blame?).

Hilcorp readily complied. We’ve discussed (endlessly) that fracking simply does not cause earthquakes–injection wells can and have caused earthquakes, when injecting fluid over an active fault. However, it’s best to play it safe in this situation. Two days after the earthquakes and Hilcorp’s cessation of drilling in Mahoning County, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) awarded Hilcorp permits to drill seven new horizontal shale wells in Lawrence County, PA–about six miles from where they stopped drilling over the border in Ohio. Oops…
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Forced Pooling Circus (ie Hearing) Coming to Lawrence County, PA

The circus will come to town in New Castle (Lawrence County), PA on March 25 and 26. No, not Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, but something sure to be far more entertaining. There will be a PA Dept. of Environmental Protection hearing on Hilcorp’s request to force four landowners to allow drilling under their property. We first brought you this story last October (see Hilcorp Uses PA Forced Pooling Law Against Lawrence Cty Landowner). MDN has always held a dim view of forced pooling, so you can’t say we didn’t warn them. Hilcorp has brought this on themselves by invoking a 1961 PA law to sue the landowners to allow drilling.

Here’s the latest, including details on where the circus, er, hearing will be held…
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A Look Back (& Forward) at Marcellus Drilling in Lawrence County

As part of a year-end story review, the Elwood City Ledger (Lawrence County, PA) looks at how one of the smallest counties in the Marcellus Shale region has become a late-bloomer with a dozen new wells drilled in 2013. We hadn’t heard much about drilling in Lawrence County until recently. The news has all been about Hilcorp, and if our most recent story about Hilcorp is any indication, drilling in Lawrence will at least double, maybe triple in 2014 (see Hilcorp Goes Hogwild in Lawrence County – 11 Pads on the Way).

Here’s the “year in review” article from the Ledger that covers Marcellus drilling in Lawrence County, a year which (sadly) included a resolution passed by the Elwood City Council calling for a severance tax on shale drilling:
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