29 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Nov 29-Dec 5
There was a healthy number of new permits issued in all three actively drilling Marcellus/Utica states last week. In Pennsylvania, 14 new shale well permits were issued across the state. In Ohio, five new shale permits were issued, four of them to a single driller (Ascent Resources) in a single county (Jefferson). West Virginia came roaring back after getting skunked with no permits two weeks ago. WV issued 10 new shale permits last week with five going to a single well pad in Monongalia County.
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Olympus Energy (formerly Huntley & Huntley) has contracted with Project Canary to monitor methane emissions from both the company’s drilling operations (the upstream) and the company’s pipeline operations (the midstream). While a number of other Marcellus/Utica drillers have signed up with Project Canary to monitor methane emissions, the Olympus deal is different and special for two reasons: (1) it’s a private (not publicly owned) company, and (2) the deal covers both upstream and midstream, for the same company.
Olympus Energy (formerly Huntley & Huntley) is expanding its drilling program in Upper Burrell, in Westmoreland County, PA, near Pittsburgh (see 
Early last week MDN told you about a new/third well pad planned by Olympus Energy in Upper Burrell Township in Westmoreland County, PA (see
Olympus Energy, the renamed Huntley & Huntley Energy Exploration (HHEX), continues to make progress in Upper Burrell Township in Westmoreland County, PA. The company currently has two well pads (Zeus and Calliope) with multiple wells drilled in Upper Burrell. Now comes word of plans for a third well pad, named the Selene Well Pad by the company. Olympus will present plans for the new pad at a hearing on Wednesday.

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has done a little more fundraising to underwrite the salaries of overpaid management. The DEP fined Olympus Energy (formerly Huntley & Huntley) for $175,000 in a “civil penalty.” What did Olympus do that was so egregious? After a hard rain some of the rainwater got muddy on an Olympus well pad and washed down an unnamed creek in Allegheny County. Oh, and the language on a sign posted at the pad site didn’t contain some of the exact “Simon Says” language on it, including permit numbers. The shame! The horror!
This Wednesday the radicals of “Protect PT” (Penn Township)–a group funded with shadowy Big Green money–will try to convince the Democrats sitting on Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court to overturn legal and safe shale drilling at well pads in Penn Township (Westmoreland County, PA). Olympus Energy (formerly Huntley & Huntley) previously submitted plans to drill multiple wells on two new well pads in the township. The Zoning Hearing Board approved the plans.