Marcellus Drilling News

Belmont County | Energy Companies | Guernsey County | Gulfport Energy | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation

Ohio O&G Commission Approves More Fracking Under State Lands
December 10, 2024December 10, 2024

Yesterday, the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) voted to award a contract to Gulfport Energy to drill and frack under (not on) about 30 acres of the Egypt Valley Wildlife Area in Belmont County. Commissioners also voted to open an additional 884 acres of Salt Fork State Park in Guernsey County for oil and gas development. During the meeting, commissioners had to work above the chaotic noise from anti-fossil fuel zealots who dressed up in Christmas attire and sang Christmas “carols” substituting anti-fracking lyrics. Yeah, antis made horses’ rear-ends of themselves, as they typically do. Read More “Ohio O&G Commission Approves More Fracking Under State Lands”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA IFO Predicts Impact Tax Revenue to Drop 9% in 2024
December 10, 2024December 10, 2024

Pennsylvania assesses an impact fee (PA’s version of a severance tax) on shale drillers, raising revenues that are paid to local municipalities and the black hole of Harrisburg politicians. Yesterday, the PA Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) issued an estimate for how much the impact fee will raise this year, which will be distributed next year. The IFO says it thinks, based on the price of low natural gas and the number of new and existing wells, that PA will generate $163.8 million from the impact fee in 2024, a decrease of $15.8 million (8.8%) from 2023. Looking back further, the price is down $115.1 million (41%) from 2022. Why did impact fee revenues drop so dramatically over the past two years? Read More “PA IFO Predicts Impact Tax Revenue to Drop 9% in 2024”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydrogen | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Philadephia

MACH2 Hydrogen Hub, Opposed by PA Green Groups, Crashing & Burning
December 10, 2024December 10, 2024

Members of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network lean into the release of the movie “Wicked” to protest outside a green hydrogen conference in Philadelphia on Nov. 19. Credit: Kyle Bagenstose/Inside Climate News

In October 2024, the Bidenistas announced the Hydrogen Hub Hunger Games winners (see Hydrogen Hub Winners Announced – WV Takes Prize in M-U Region). Seven projects were selected from 33 finalists. Among the winners was the West Virginia-led Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2), which is a project that will use Marcellus/Utica natural gas as the feedstock to produce “blue” hydrogen, which is hydrogen made from natgas where carbon dioxide from the process is captured and either used or stored underground. ARCH2 qualifies for up to $925 million of your taxpayer money. Another winner was the Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub (MACH2) project, centered in Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware. MACH2, funded up to $750 million, will give a few economic table scraps to the Philly area, which excites and titillates PA politicians. However, according to Inside Climate News, the MACH2 project is crashing and burning. Read More “MACH2 Hydrogen Hub, Opposed by PA Green Groups, Crashing & Burning”
Cumberland County | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

Huge Data Center Eyeing Site Near Harrisburg, Big Jobs & Tax Rev.
December 10, 2024December 10, 2024

Middlesex Township, Cumberland County, PA

The Harrisburg Patriot-News is reporting a developer is seriously looking at a site in Cumberland County, PA, near the state capital of Harrisburg, to build a huge new “hyperscale data center complex” on 700 acres. Allow us to connect the dots for you. These data centers use an incredible amount of electricity. That electricity either comes from the local grid, most of it produced via natural gas-fired power, or (in some cases) the data centers produce their own electricity, most often by using gas-fired power plants. Either way, these facilities and their location in the Marcellus region mean more Marcellus gas will be needed to generate the electricity they use. And that’s a good thing for drillers and landowners who have leased their property for shale gas development. More customers mean higher prices for the gas produced. Read More “Huge Data Center Eyeing Site Near Harrisburg, Big Jobs & Tax Rev.”
Diversified Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Kentucky | Litigation | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | Virginia | West Virginia

Details on Diversified Deal to Plug More Wells in WV, OH, PA
December 10, 2024December 10, 2024

One month ago, we brought you the news that Diversified Energy and EQT Corporation had settled a class action lawsuit originally brought by several West Virginia landowners (see EQT, Diversified Settle WV Class Action Lawsuit re Old Wells). There is the money aspect of the lawsuit, a payout of up to $6.5 million (subject to attorneys grabbing one-third of that). But then there is (in our opinion) the more important aspect of the settlement that requires Diversified to dramatically increase the number of wells it plugs over the next 10 years. Read More “Details on Diversified Deal to Plug More Wells in WV, OH, PA”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

Green Energy Grifters Upset with PJM Plan to Favor Gas Power
December 10, 2024December 10, 2024

Last week, MDN told you the country’s largest electric grid, PJM Interconnection, which covers all or parts of 13 states, including PA, OH, and WV, is making changes to how it decides which new power plants can connect to the system first. The new policy *favors* adding natural gas-fired power over other types of power like unreliable solar and wind (see New PJM Policy Favors Gas-Fired Power Over Solar & Wind). The change comes in response to the rapidly increasing demand for more electricity from data centers and artificial intelligence computing. PJM’s gas-favoring policy change has rankled the environmental left. According to green grifters, the PJM proposal unfairly allows gas-fired projects to “jump the queue” ahead of unreliable renewables. Read More “Green Energy Grifters Upset with PJM Plan to Favor Gas Power”
Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Research

Energy Sector Jobs Have Steadily Grown Since June 2024
December 10, 2024December 10, 2024

Yesterday, the Energy Workforce & Technology Council released its monthly jobs report, highlighting a rebound in employment across the U.S. energy services sector. Total jobs in the sector were reported at 655,630 for November 2024, reflecting an increase of 1,890 positions from October, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and analysis conducted by the Energy Workforce & Technology Council. Overall employment in the energy sector has been higher each month compared with corresponding months last year beginning in June—an indicator that activity in oil and gas is ever-so-gradually beginning to increase again. Read More “Energy Sector Jobs Have Steadily Grown Since June 2024”
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Other Stories of Interest: Tue, Dec 10, 2024
December 10, 2024December 10, 2024

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Shapiro DEP awards $24 million to Chesapeake Bay watershed; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: California law causes refineries to close, prices to soar; NATIONAL: BP seeks buyers for US natural gas pipeline system stake, sources say; The odds for/against U.S. tariffs on imported Canadian, Mexican crude; Meta joins the nuclear-powered AI fray; INTERNATIONAL: BP, JERA to consolidate offshore wind assets under new JV; Norway, Australia end overseas financing for unabated fossil fuels; Brits pay billions to waste wind energy; Why Mexico still sits on the sidelines at OPEC+ meetings. Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Tue, Dec 10, 2024”