WV Forced Pooling Bill Passes Senate, House Votes Next Week
One week ago MDN told you about the fast track for West Virginia Senate Bill (SB) 694, a bill that will, after nearly a decade, provide for forced pooling for shale wells in the state (see New WV Forced Pooling Bill Moves Rapidly, Up for Full Senate Vote). Over the past week, the bill passed a vote by the full WV Senate, went to the House Judiciary Committee (where it passed), and is likely due for a vote by the full House next week. This one looks, by all accounts, like a done deal.
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An interesting conversation was held on Tuesday during the Pennsylvania Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on the budget for PA in 2022. Secretary of the Dept. of Conservation & Natural Resources (DCNR) Cindy Dunn was there to talk about her agency’s financial needs in the coming year. Also there was PA Sen. Gene Yaw and PA Sen. Joe Pittman, both Republicans. Yaw and Pittman asked Dunn why her agency doesn’t lease another 22,000 acres of state land for natural gas drilling as a form of “self help” to help fund DCNR’s budget. Great question…
According to S&P Global, shale gas producers behaved themselves during the fourth quarter of 2021 and didn’t, even as the price of gas went sky high, do anything more than maintain current production. Gas drillers kept spending in check, didn’t do any more drilling than was necessary to maintain production, and plowed free cash flow back into dividends and stock buybacks. The result? Investors loved it and share prices soared.
In Sept. 2021 Seneca Resources, the drilling arm of National Fuel Gas Company, announced it would certify as responsibly sourced gas (RSG) about 300 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of its production–roughly one-third of all Seneca production (see 
Yesterday our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), released its “Annual Energy Outlook 2022.” One of the main findings of this latest look forward is that the use of oil and natural gas will grow steadily and gradually from now until 2050–over the next 30 years. Renewables (solar and wind) will grow too, but fossil energy will remain completely dominant for the next generation (and likely longer). Surprised? We’re not.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: RGGI still divides Pennsylvania; Utica Shale Academy beneficiary of $75K donation; NATIONAL: US weekly LNG exports climb by six LNGCs; Blackrock says Russia-Ukraine war will ‘accelerate’ green energy transition; INTERNATIONAL: How high could oil go?; JPMorgan says $185 oil is in view; Russia’s Yamal-Europe westbound gas pipeline flows stopped on Friday; Sweden proposes a ban on extraction of coal, oil and natural gas.