Energy Companies | Fayette County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Statewide PA
PA DEP Shakes Down Range $294K for Unplugged Conventional Wells
The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is once again spinning an error by a major Marcellus driller, Range Resources, as some sort of evil plot to avoid and defraud the DEP. Due to a mistake by a former employee, Range misclassified 42 old conventional wells on acreage it owns and did not plug the wells in a timely (for DEP) fashion. The DEP has just clipped the company $294,000 for the mistake.
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A new attack against the Marcellus Shale industry in Pennsylvania comes from fossil fuel haters attempting to dispute permits reissued for existing (NOT new) shale wastewater storage and recycling facilities scattered across the state. Antis seek to shut down pipelines, rail shipments, recycling facilities, injection wells–anything they can to stop to prevent drillers from extracting natural gas from shale in the Keystone State. Sick people.
Last June MDN told you about a plan by McCandless, a township in Allegheny County, PA (near Pittsburgh), to block any and all shale drilling within its borders by getting creative (see 
In late 2018 the final two segments of the already-operational Rover Pipeline went online, making the project 100% complete (see 
The spot price (cash paid for immediate delivery) of natural gas at trading hubs across the country, including in the Marcellus/Utica, continues to hit new highs not seen in over a year. Even though the longer-range NYMEX futures price isn’t moving all that much. Pay no attention to the futures price! Look at the spot price. In the Henry Hub (Louisiana), the benchmark for all natgas prices, the spot price yesterday closed at $3.83/MMBtu, up $0.48 in one day. Dominion South closed at roughly $3.30/MMBtu, up $0.36 from the day before. And Tennessee Gas Zone 4 Marcellus closed at roughly $3.20/MMBtu, up $0.39 from the day before.
You can’t miss it if you look at energy headlines. The word “hydrogen” is everywhere, being touted as THE energy fuel of the future. Right behind it is “carbon capture.” The two work together in many cases. Our friend Joe Barone is dedicating an entire conference to these topics. The 
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: New Mexico and Texas officials give dire warnings over federal lands ban impacts; Oil and gas coalition aims to end routine flaring by 2030; Rockland Council to hold meeting on natural gas project; NATIONAL: Shale rig owner touts new price model as drilling speeds up; EIA lifts forecasts for US gas production, trims 2021 price estimates; A look at Chesapeake energy’s exit from bankruptcy; First Keystone XL, now Dakota Access: pipeline politics swirl around Biden; INTERNATIONAL: Poland’s LNG imports again jump as Russian supplies decline; Germany claims emissions success yet becomes more dependent than ever on Russia?