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Belmont County, OH Landowner Wins $40M Trespass Case Against EQT
A relatively short jury trial last week in a Belmont County, OH court resulted in a quick, three-and-a-half-hour decision in favor of a landowner against Rice Drilling (now EQT) and Gulfport Energy in a trespass case. The jury awarded the landowner, Tera LLC (owned by Thomas Shaw), a $40 million judgment. It’s believed to be the single largest jury award in Belmont County history.
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Some 102,000 jobs in the oil and gas industry disappeared due to the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic (thank you China). Since the recovery began earlier this year, the oil and gas sector has restored roughly 18,600 of those jobs, or 18%, according to the latest monthly employment report issued by the Energy Workforce & Technology Council (EWTC). Here in the Marcellus/Utica region, all three M-U states that drill and produce gas added new jobs in June.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf pulled a fast one. He pressured the PA Environmental Quality Board (EQB), a powerful committee operating under the larger umbrella of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), to hold a hearing and cast a vote yesterday (in the dead of summer with everyone out of town) on whether or not PA should join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), an obscene tax on carbon for power generators including natgas power plants. The EQB, packed with people who depend on Wolf for their jobs (he’s their boss), voted in favor of advancing the $2.6 billion RGGI carbon tax proposal by 15-4. No surprise there. It was an inside job.
This is so tiresome. The Chester County District Attorney’s office continues to persecute two lowly Pennsylvania Constables for doing their job in warning off crazy anti-fossil fuel fanatics who approached a construction site for the Mariner East 2 pipeline project. The DA’s office thought it could fool everyone with a catchy slogan, calling what the constables did a “buy a badge scheme.” What it was, was two guys working for near minimum wage who happen to have a badge, using that badge to keep people from hurting themselves. And for that, they’re being prosecuted by the Chester DA. Shameful. The case is being tried before a jury right now.
Last week not a whole lot of permit action was goin’ on. Pennsylvania scored only a single (1) new permit. We can’t remember the last time that happened! The PA permit was for a well that will be drilled by EQT in Greene County. Ohio’s Utica got skunked with no new permits. West Virginia rode in to save the day, posting 5 new permits–4 of them for Tug Hill and 1 for Antero Resources.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Chesapeake Utilities, a small utility operator, has big renewable gas plans; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: ISO New England Tracker: Power, gas prices up in June; expected higher in winter; NATIONAL: WTI settles above $75; Biden climate czar threatens to bypass Congress on clean energy; After blowing $300 billion, U.S. shale finally makes money; E&Ps’ credit metrics improve as U.S. emerges from the pandemic; Fix the RFS! (video); INTERNATIONAL: Gas import options expanding for China; Record natural gas prices give power markets a jolt; Panama Canal LNG transits jump 12% through three quarters of current fiscal year.