Tiny Group Protests Fracking Under Ohio’s Salt Fork State Park
In early June, shale drillers could, for the first time, begin to apply for permits to drill under (not on top of) Ohio state lands and state parks under newly formulated rules established by the Ohio Oil & Gas Land Management (OGLM) Commission (see Ohio State Lands Now Open for O&G Leasing – Virtual Ribbon-Cutting). In April, before the OGLM rules, Encino Energy made an offer to drill under Salt Fork State Park, located in Guernsey County, in a deal that could have netted the state a staggering $1.8 billion (see Encino Offered OH $1.8B Deal to Drill Under Salt Fork State Park). Ohio rejected the proposal (bad timing). However, Encino (presumably) is still interested, as Salt Fork was one of eight initial properties nominated for drilling deals (see 8 Ohio State Land Locations Nominated for Utica Shale Drilling). On July 1, a tiny “rally” was staged at Salt Fork State Park by protesters who want to block safe drilling under (not on) park-owned land.
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In April, MDN told you about a radicalized faction within the Pennsylvania Democrat Party trying yet another ploy to block all new Marcellus drilling in the state (see 
We have a federal court decision from an interesting case to share. From June 2005 to October 2007, U.S. Energy Development Corporation contracted with Superior Well Services (of Pennsylvania) to frack natural gas wells owned by U.S. Energy in (of all places) New York State. Yes, fracking used to (still does) happen in NY–at least with conventional wells. U.S. Energy filed a claim against Superior in October 2007, saying Superior had damaged 97 of its wells during fracking by using the wrong kind of chemical mixtures in its fracking fluid.
In 2017, Texas-based Newpark Resources bought out and merged in Well Service Group located in Robinson Township, near Pittsburgh, for $75 million (see 
Earlier this month, we noticed a short Bloomberg article about a stray comment made by Exxon Mobile CEO Darren Woods. He was speaking at the Bernstein Annual Strategic Decisions Conference held on June 1 in New York City. Woods said he has tasked the brainiacs who work for Exxon to figure out a way to improve fracking, which (Woods said), is still “not well understood.” Woods wants to double oil recovery from fracked wells. Folks, doubling oil (and gas!) recovery via fracking would launch the second shale revolution!
Even as the Bidenistas at the Dept. of Energy are deciding which regional hydrogen hub proposals to fund, and even though Pennsylvania, with its parochial application that competes against a much better application from West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, the Democrats in the PA House are attempting to force any new hydrogen projects in the Keystone state to NOT use fossil fuels–namely Marcellus Shale gas. Yes, they are insane! PA Dems (led by State Rep. Greg Vitali) are about to screw up PA’s already long shot at grabbing one of the 6 to 8 regional hydrogen hub projects and $1 billion in funding by promoting House Bill (HB) 1215–written by the radicals of the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Talk about dumb. Wow!
Is shale energy beginning to peter out? We’re beginning to see stories in oil and gas publications about how the best locations to drill for shale oil and gas are gone, and the less desirable, less productive locations are now left. We don’t know if that’s true, but it seems people whose multi-billion-dollar businesses depend on it believe it–people like the CEO of Exxon Mobil, Darren Woods. The general attitude that we’re running out has led to two notable strategies to keep the good times rolling: (1) refracing existing wells, and (2) researching new technologies and techniques to get more oil and gas from existing and new wells.
Researchers with Ohio Northern University recently published a study that finds that fracking for Utica Shale sometimes (“episodically”) reduces small Eastern Ohio River basin stream levels. The fluctuations in those stream levels “could” (but not necessarily do) negatively impact aquatic life (ecosystems) in those areas. The situation should, according to the researchers, be confirmed by more studies and monitoring.
Anti-fossil fuel zealots are demanding an update on a $2.5 million “study” awarded to the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health to “conduct research on the potential health effects of hydraulic fracturing in Pennsylvania” (see 
Last November, MDN told you about a lawsuit filed by a family in Washington County, PA, against Chevron (now EQT) for drilling and fracking done in 2011-2012 near the family’s home (see 
We appear to finally be at the end of an eight-year road with respect to new shale drilling regulations in Pennsylvania adopted back in 2016. Two days ago, the PA Supreme Court overturned a Commonwealth Court decision that blocked the Dept. of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) ability to control shale drilling near schools and public playgrounds. In October 2016, after five years in the making, PA adopted new shale drilling regulations called Chapter 78 (see 
For a moment, we thought we were reading an article in 
Leave it to liberal Democrats to hype an issue that isn’t even an issue to try and scare folks for political gain. LibDems have introduced a bill in the Ohio House that would prohibit fracking for oil and gas underneath Lake Erie. The leftists of Lake Erie Waterkeeper appear to be behind the measure. When was the last time you heard about any drillers salivating over drilling and fracking under Lake Erie? That’s right. NEVER. And yet the left wants to plant the seed that drillers now have their sights set on fracking Lake Erie.
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.
We simply don’t understand the disturbed minds of the environmental left. Take the recent actions by the leftists at Damascus Citizens for Sustainability (DCS), which is suing the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) after the DRBC adopted most of the rules sought by DCS to permanently block fracking and anything to do with fracking from the Delaware River Basin region. The radicals got 95% of what they wanted, but because it’s not 100%, they are suing in federal court to force the DRBC to start over and achieve 100% of their demands. This is seriously, pathologically, disturbed. We will explain.