Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Susquehanna County
PA EHB Sanctions Landowner Attorney in Coterra Water Well Case
The Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board (EHB) is a special court set up in PA to hear appeals of decisions made by the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). In February 2021, a landowner (three people living at the same address) in Susquehanna County, PA, filed a lawsuit with the EHB against the DEP and Coterra Energy (formerly known as Cabot Oil & Gas) alleging Coterra’s drilling program nearby had led to polluting their water well. As of last week, the case was dismissed and the Pittsburgh attorney for the landowner (for the first time ever) was sanctioned by the EHB.
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When drilling for natural gas, other substances come out of the borehole along with methane (CH4). Some wells produce NGLs (natural gas liquids) which are gases with other molecular structures, like ethane (C2H6), butane (C4H10), and propane (C3H8). Sometimes crude oil, condensate, and natural gasoline come out–all of which are liquids. Water from the depths (called brine) also comes out of the hole. When the pressure of natgas coming from the hole is high, as it is in the beginning when a well is first drilled, liquids come out of the hole along with the gas with little or no issue. However, as pressure decreases, the liquids can fall back down the well and begin to accumulate–a condition called liquid loading. Plunger lift is a technology used to solve the issue of liquid loading.
PennEnergy Resources recently reapplied (for a second time) for a permit to draw water from Big Sewickley Creek–but this time the request is cut in half, to just 1.5 million gallons of water a day (see 
The province of Quebec, Canada, with a huge supply of Utica Shale gas sitting beneath it, passed a new law in April–Bill 21–outlawing all oil and natural gas production throughout the province (see 
We finally started to see more permits issued again last week. After the Marcellus/Utica was in the permit doldrum for nearly a month, bumping around at 20 permits or below, last week the number increased to a total of 34 permits issued to drill new shale wells. Pennsylvania issued 13 new permits, with seven of them going to Coterra Energy in Susquehanna County on the same pad. Ohio issued 14 new permits, with 12 of them going to Ascent Resources distributed across four different counties. And West Virginia issued seven new permits, all of them to Antero Resources, all in Doddridge County.
The board of directors at Southwestern Energy Company voted to authorize the company to buy back $1 billion of its own stock. The buyback program will run from now until the end of 2023. The aim of stock buyback programs, as well as dividends, is to put more money into the pockets of investors. In the case of a stock buyback, each outstanding share (after the buyback) becomes a little more valuable. Southwestern is attempting to make its stock attractive for investors. This morning SWN share prices were trading around $6.91, up 47% year-to-date. On June 1 it was higher–trading at $9.64.
President Joe Biden is getting grumpy and thin-skinned in his old age. He thinks oil drillers and refineries should get up and tap dance on cue when he says so, even though he wants to bankrupt them and put them out of business a few years down the road. Leftwing media is catching on that the Bidenistas can’t demand more output now, requiring investments in the billions, while sending the loud message the same companies will be out of business in a few years as renewable nirvana takes hold (see 
Tug Hill Operating is focused on acquiring, exploring, developing, and producing oil and natural gas in the onshore U.S. with a primary focus on the Marcellus Shale in the Appalachia Basin (Southwest Appalachia in West Virginia, and Northeast Appalachia in Pennsylvania), Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas, Niobrara Shale in the Rockies region, and other select basins and formations. According to sources speaking with Reuters, Tug Hill is looking to divest its West Virginia assets for $5 billion.
Wrapping up the coverage of the recent Hart Energy DUG East Conference, Pittsburgh Business Times reporter Paul Gough pulled together comments by various speakers on the topic of LNG and whether or not the Marcellus/Utica can and will benefit from a growth in American LNG exports. Opinions by some of the biggest drillers in the M-U diverged on this topic.
In March the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), corrupted by the Bidenistas, said it will begin to force all publicly traded companies to disclose their so-called greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the imaginary climate risks their businesses face (see 
PennEnergy Resources recently reapplied (for a second time) for a permit to draw water from Big Sewickley Creek–but this time the request is cut in half, to just 1.5 million gallons of water a day (see 
Each quarter NGI (