PA DEP Names New Deputy Secretary for Oil & Gas Management
The PA Environment Digest Blog broke news yesterday that the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has named Seth Pelepko, a licensed Professional Geologist, as Deputy Secretary for Oil and Gas Management. There is no word (as of now) for what happened with the previous person who held that position, Kurt Klapkowski. Before being named Deputy Secretary, Pelepko worked at UGI Utilities as Program Manager for Sustainability since February 2023. Before UGI, Pelepko worked at the DEP in various roles from 2012 until 2022. Read More “PA DEP Names New Deputy Secretary for Oil & Gas Management”
The fight in Marietta, OH, over DeepRock Disposal Solutions’ plan to build a fifth shale wastewater injection well is getting heated. Opposition to the well has made for some very strange bedfellows. The Republican City Council is utilizing the legal services of the radicalized Earthjustice green group to challenge a permit issued by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which would allow the well in Marietta, OH (see 
Our friend Bill desRosiers, Manager of Government and External Affairs at Coterra Energy, has authored an excellent article and white paper addressing the topic of how the oil and gas industry can use virtual reality (VR) to attract new blood to the industry. The oil and gas industry is facing a significant workforce challenge: nearly 400,000 U.S. energy workers are nearing retirement, while younger generations remain hesitant to enter the field. In spring 2025, Coterra partnered with Xalter to deploy a multi-state pilot VR program to prepare the next generation of energy workers. Bill draws back the curtain to discuss the company’s experience in using VR for training and to attract new talent to the company. 
In February 2016, Shell completed a $69.7 billion buyout and merger with BG, the largest such oil and gas deal since Exxon bought Mobil in 1999, driven by the company’s love of LNG (see 
For the fourth week in a row, the Baker Hughes U.S. national rig count gained, instead of losing, rigs. Last week, the count increased by seven, to 549. The last time the count was higher was June 20. The even more exciting news is that the Ohio Utica picked up another rig, boosting the total in Ohio to 13, the highest it’s been in well over a year. Pennsylvania maintained its count of 18 active rigs, which it has maintained since July 25 (two months). West Virginia kept its seven active rigs, the same number since May 30 (four months). The combined M-U count was 38 rigs, with 24 rigs targeting the Marcellus layer and 14 targeting the Utica. 
Last week, we brought you several posts about a “summit” (a blaming and bullying session) convened by one of the biggest bullies on the political scene today, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, to complain about high electricity prices in the PJM Interconnection grid (see 
As we’ve explained multiple times, the policies of governors like Josh Shapiro (Pennsylvania), Maura Healey (Massachusetts), and Ned Lamont (Connecticut) are the DIRECT cause of higher electricity prices. And now that prices are soaring, those governors are running away from their culpability as fast as they can, attempting to shift blame (see 
A new report from big energy data analytics firm Enverus finds that the average breakeven price for new shale wells in the United States currently sits at $70 per barrel. That’s a problem, because the sale price for a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude has been firmly in the $60s for months. U.S. shale drillers can’t drill new wells if they lose money. Consequently, they’re beginning to lay down the rigs and stop new drilling. But here’s the even more troubling part of the report: Enverus predicts the breakeven price will rise to around $95 per barrel within ten years. 
The mighty BP (formerly British Petroleum) is an oil and natural gas company attempting to transition into a renewable energy company. They’re failing. BP is having an identity crisis. It’s a European company and has bought into the false narrative that fossil energy is on the way out (“transitioning” to so-called renewables) due to concerns over mythical global warming. BP’s recently published Annual Energy Outlook for 2025 report (full copy below) takes a different approach from previous versions of the report. It offers two scenarios: What will happen between now and 2050 if we don’t change anything, called “Current Trajectory,” which means humans will turn Earth into a burning hell; and what will happen if the world finally gets serious about mythical global warming and commits to ensuring temperatures don’t rise more than 2 degrees Celsius, called “Below 2°.” 
In yet another sign that Williams’ Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project is a done deal and moving forward, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) granted the project permission to “disturb” (harass) 15 varieties of whales, seals, porpoises, and dolphins, as it builds a 24-mile pipeline on the floor of the bay. “Uh, excuse me, Mr. Whale? Could you please swim about a mile over in that direction for the next few days?” Environmentalist wackos are having a cow, or maybe it’s a whale, at the news. 
Homer City Redevelopment is transforming the former Homer City Generating Station in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, into the $24 billion Homer City Energy Campus, one of the largest redevelopment projects in state history (see 
Last Thursday, MDN informed you about a public hearing scheduled for that day by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WV-DEP) for the Adams Fork Energy Project in Mingo County (see 
We chalk this story up to the category, “We’re winning, and here’s more proof.” When, in your wildest dreams, would you ever think the lefty libs at the University of Pittsburgh (who HATE shale energy and fossil fuels) would launch a degree program for undergraduates that combines natural gas, oil, and unreliable renewables? We thought, NEVER! But that’s just what has happened. The school is launching an “all of the above” engineering degree, allowing students to “move seamlessly between industries.” Get them trained in both fossil fuels and so-called green energy for when the day arrives that fossil fuels are finally dead and green energy rules the land. (Which is when hell freezes over.) 
Countless times, we have addressed the issue of the ban on fracking in New York State and how that ban is harming state residents economically. The number one natural gas-producing county in Pennsylvania is Susquehanna County. It shares a border with Broome County in New York, where MDN is located. The gas that sits under Broome and neighboring counties is no doubt just as prolific as that under Susquehanna. Yet we are prevented from accessing it. We spotted a new op-ed comparing PA fracking with the lack of fracking in NY. It’s a great column that makes excellent points. And it’s worth addressing this issue one more time. We also offer our standard reply to the question: Will NY ever see fracking? 
On September 24, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted Sandstone Development, LLC a permit for an oil and gas wastewater injection well in Lafayette Township, in McKean County. The permit authorizes Sandstone to inject up to 10,500 gallons per day of produced fluids from the McKay 7A conventional well to enhance oil and gas recovery in the McKay Lease area. Injection will occur into the Upper Devonian Kane Sandstone Formation at depths between 2,295 and 2,315 feet. A public hearing on the permit application was conducted in May.