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WV Mineral Owners’ Lawsuit Accuses Southwestern of ‘Well Bashing’
Two Marshall County, WV landowners with the same last name (brothers? cousins? father/son?) have sued Southwestern Energy accusing the company of “well bashing.” The landowners seek to have the lawsuit certified as a class action. Well bashing happens when drilling a child well near a parent well causes the parent well to lose pressure or become clogged with fracking fluids and sand. Ultimately the child well causes the parent well to become less profitable (i.e., less revenue from royalties for the landowner). The lawsuit says Southwestern is practicing well bashing intentionally–in order to keep lease rates low.
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Josh Shapiro promised he was a different kind of Democrat, but in the end, he turned out to be the same kind as most. We told you, warned you, that should Shapiro be elected, he would embrace the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax, even though he expressed sentiments during the campaign that he doesn’t support it (see 
The Democrats who control and write for the Cleveland Plain Dealer are, once again, attacking a new law that allows for shale drilling under (but not on top of) Ohio state-owned land. The new measure was passed and signed into law late last year (see 
On March 14, eight business groups across five states (including PA and WV) sent a letter to the federal EPA urging the EPA to expedite approvals for well permits for carbon sequestration, including allowing primacy for states. Businesses and consortia are actively pursuing significant investments in projects related to the so-called energy transition. Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) is an important piece of the “transition,” both for capturing direct emissions and enabling clean hydrogen production from promised regional hydrogen hubs. CCS investments can accelerate a region’s energy transition and grow jobs. But the feds are dragging their feet. States want to take control of approving CCS projects for themselves, to speed things along–to become the primary regulatory authority. But the dysfunctional EPA is not responding. Hence the letter.
While we don’t track rig counts each week, given the volatile up-and-down nature of rig counts, the count from last week warrants comment. Oil rigs fell by one last week to 589, while gas rigs rose by nine to 162. Total rig count is up 13.7% over the same time last year–a good indicator that more drilling is happening. In our region, the Marcellus play gained five rigs from the previous week, while the Utica lost four rigs from the previous week.
BlackRock, the largest investment bank in the world with some $10 trillion in assets under management, is hurting. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink insists that public companies adopt ESG (environment, social, governance) policies that include reducing CO2 emissions. Fink’s demands are tantamount to divesting (or refusing to invest in) any company that produces or heavily uses oil and natural gas. Yet in the company’s latest annual letter to investors, Fink says the oil and gas industry is essential in meeting global energy needs, despite the increasing shift towards renewable energy sources. He says BlackRock loves investing in O&G. He is categorically lying to avoid more action by states in dropping BlackRock funds.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Pennsylvania could benefit greatly from hydrogen hubs; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: CA seeks EPA authorization to ban gas and diesel vehicle sales; NJ seeks more offshore wind contracts as opponents push for halt; NATIONAL: Bank turmoil fuels largest weekly loss since April 2020; Greenhouse gases and the refining industry; Biden administration policies hurting energy development across U.S.; INTERNATIONAL: LNG plant cancellation could kill premier’s shale gas ambitions.