Regulation

Forced Pooling | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Republicans (!) Help Defeat WV Forced Pooling at 11th Hour
March 16, 2015March 16, 2015

In a stunning upset at the eleventh hour, WV House Bill (HB) 2688, a bill that allows forced pooling (and a bill that seemed assured of passage just last Friday) died in a rare tied vote. On Friday, we told you HB2688 was all but a done deal (see Looks Like Forced Pooling is, After 5 Years, Coming to WV). So what happened? As predicted, the bill went to the WV Senate where it was passed on a vote of 24-10. The House had previously passed it on a vote of 60-40, but the bill had amendments that took it back to the House for final passage on the very last day of the regular session (Saturday). The last vote on the bill ended up in a rare tie of 49-49. When a vote on a bill ends in a tie, it doesn’t pass. And there it ended. Why did the vote swing from a comfortable margin the first time it passed in the House to a tie the second time? It largely appears to be the efforts of House member Pat McGeehan, a Republican, who calls forced pooling “legal plundering”…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Transco | Williams

Dela. Riverkeeper Halts Transco Pipeline Upgrade with Lawsuit
March 16, 2015March 16, 2015

Someone needs to sue THE Delaware Riverkeeper (Maya van Rossum) the way that organization is suing legitimate and legal companies to block legitimate and legal activity in the Marcellus Shale. Delaware Riverkeeper apparently has endless bags of money, made available to them by the Park Foundation, Heinz Endowments and other anti-drilling “non-profit” groups, to file endless frivolous lawsuits. The latest is particularly insidious. Williams has just received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build a few loops–extra lengths of pipeline immediately next to existing pipeline–for the Transco Pipeline in northeast PA and in NJ (see FERC Approves Williams Leidy Southeast Project in PA/NJ). Part of the requirement by FERC is that Williams cannot cut down trees between April and October–a full seven months–to avoid “harming” the endangered Indiana bat that may (or may not) roost in those trees…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Butler County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Rex Energy

Dela. RiverKeeper, Clean Air Council Cost Middlesex Residents $35K+
March 16, 2015March 16, 2015

THE Delaware Riverkeeper (Maya van Rossum) and the Clean Air Council, both located in the orbit of Philadelphia, have gone all the way to the opposite side of the state to meddle and cause mischief (see Martian Chronicles: Delaware River Basin Shifts to Western PA?). They’ve not only delayed legal and legitimate Marcellus drilling on the other side of the state, now they’ve cost the taxpayers in Middlesex Township (Butler County), PA over $35,000 in legal fees–and the costs keep mounting. Thank you Delaware Riverkeeper and Clean Air Council with your frivolous meddling! Those groups, in league with “four residents” are challenging the right of Middlesex to allow Rex Energy to drill several Marcellus Shale wells on a pad in a rural area that’s 3/4 of a mile away from the Mars School (see Rex Drilling Operation Near Mars School Put on Hold). Their meddling is costing real money–not only for Rex Energy, but also for the taxpayers of Middlesex who are nothing more than collateral damage for Riverkeeper and the Clean Air Council in their war on fossil fuels…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Kentucky | Regulation

Kentucky Fracking One Step Closer: Commission Considers 1st Permit
March 16, 2015March 16, 2015

In January, MDN told you that shale drilling/fracking may soon come to Kentucky (see Fracking on the Way in the Bluegrass State? Quite Possibly). Several weeks ago the Kentucky Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, a group that “rarely meets” (last meeting was in 2006) held a meeting to consider granting Kentucky’s very first deep horizontal natural gas drilling permit. The company applying for the permit is Horizontal Technology Energy Company, a subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based EQT. Horizontal Technology wants to drill a well in the Rogersville Shale in the eastern part of the state. No word yet on the result of that meeting…
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Crime | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA’s Anti-Drilling Attorney General Kane Can’t Keep a Press Secretary
March 16, 2015March 16, 2015

Rats fleeing a sinking ship? (Oops…Did we just say that with our out-loud voice??) It seems PA’s anti-drilling and law-breaking Attorney General Kathleen Kane can’t keep a press secretary. Kane, you may recall, is using Lanny Davis, lawyer for Bill “BJ in the Oval Office” Clinton who lied under oath (called perjury, a crime) to defend her. Davis was able to help Clinton keep his job as president, largely by smearing the special prosecutor in the case, Ken Starr. Kane figures Davis may be able to help her keep her job as PA’s AG, even though a grand jury found her to have broken the law and violated the oath of her office (see PA Grand Jury Finds Anti-Drilling AG Kathleen Kane Lied Under Oath). It’s interesting to watch the people around Kane, like those that have to face the press every day and lie for her. They just keep leaving. The latest one was there only two months…
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Forced Pooling | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Looks Like Forced Pooling is, After 5 Years, Coming to WV
March 13, 2015March 13, 2015

Sadly, it appears that West Virginia House Bill (HB) 2688 is all but passed in the WV legislature. The WV legislature meets for 60 days each year (we wish it were that way in New York!). There’s only three days left in the session for this year and HB2688 has been on a freight train fast track. We told you last week the bill had passed the House and had gone to the Senate (see WV Forced Pooling HB2688 Passes House, Heads to Senate). The bill was voted on and passed in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The next stop is a vote by the full Senate and Charleston insiders predict it will pass with a minimum of fuss. This forced pooling bill is supposedly different than previous versions that failed to pass over the past five years. HB2688 requires 80% of surrounding land to be leased before the final 20% can be forced to allow drilling under (not on) their land. Good for the 80% and for drillers, but it violates the sacrosanct property rights of the 20%. In addition to HB2688, a second bill important to the oil and gas industry is poised to pass, Senate Bill (SB) 423, which will lessen the reporting burden from a previous law that requires all above ground storage tanks to be registered…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Minuteman Environmental Services | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | XTO

PA Grand Jury Finds Anti-Drilling AG Kathleen Kane Lied Under Oath
March 13, 2015March 13, 2015

Kathleen Kane, the anti-drilling Attorney General of Pennsylvania–lied under oath–according to a PA grand jury. That’s called perjury and it’s a crime. She should be removed from office immediately but she’s fighting the charge using Lanny Davis–the same lawyer who kept Bill Clinton in office after he lied under oath. She’s hoping lightening will strike twice and Davis will be able to restore her damaged-beyond-repair credibility as the state’s top law enforcement officer, even though she herself has committed high crimes against the state. Why do we care? Because she’s lied in at least two other cases that affect the Marcellus Shale industry: XTO Energy (see PA AG Abuses Her Authority, Files Criminal Charges Against XTO) and Minuteman Environmental Services (see Minuteman Sues AG Kane’s Office for $20M + Punitive Damages). She’s vicious and relentless when it comes to smearing the Marcellus industry and she needs to go because of her own crimes…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Gov Wolf: Forget Burning Natgas, Make PVC Pipe Instead
March 12, 2015March 12, 2015

A question and answer session with PA Gov. Tom Wolf at the Harrisburg Patriot-News reveals a lot about his attitude and thinking with regard to the Marcellus Shale industry. Hinting at his previous statement that if the industry doesn’t agree to his tax he’ll ban them (see PA Gov Wolf Turns Bully, Threatens Ban on Drilling Absent New Tax), Wolf, in answering a question about the drilling industry and how it conducts itself said the industry will “do this [Marcellus drilling] right or we can’t do it at all.” He failed to define what he means by doing it right. Wolf also said that while he’s in favor of extracting Marcellus Shale gas, he (fantastically) thinks it’s a waste to burn it! Instead, HE wants to use it to make things, like artificial wood for decks and PVC for pipes. He’s more interested in solar and wind than he is natural gas (must be John Hanger’s influence). What a mess this man’s thinking is on one of PA’s most important natural resources. He’s going to screw it up if he continues on this dangerously naive course…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA DEP Sec Quigley Fumbles Questions at House Budget Hearing
March 12, 2015March 12, 2015

Yesterday PennFutureDEP Acting Sec. John Quigley appeared before the PA House budget hearing to answer questions about Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget proposals for the Dept. of Environmental Protection (i.e. cheerlead and support the highest tax increase on drillers in the state’s history). Quigley was asked why he had fired the members of the DEP’s Oil & Gas Technical Advisory Board (OGTAB)–something no incoming governor has done in a generation, Republican or Democrat (see Why did PA DEP Acting Sec Quigley Mass Fired Gas Advisory Board?). Quigley apparently fumbled around with the question and answered it later, after the meeting, saying the law required splitting the board in two and, “We needed some new blood on the advisory board.” He was asked, during the hearing, who the new members would be on the newly constituted OGTAB. Quigley said he “couldn’t remember” and he later told reporters the board is appointed by the governor and that he “doesn’t do clerical work.” Apparently nominating and appointing a board with people who ultimately guide and control the very policies his department must enforce isn’t important enough for Quigley to bother with. Arrogant or out of touch, take your pick. Later that same day, after some underling got chewed out for Quigley’s poor performance, a press release was issued with the names of the OGTAB members…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Sec Quigley Wants Pipeliners/Towns to Meet Up
March 12, 2015March 12, 2015

PA’s PennFutureDEP Acting Sec. John Quigley wants to get the big pipeline companies and the townships through which the pipelines will go to meet at the local Starbucks and “start a conversation.” Which latte do you like? Er no, not that kind of conversation. Quigley acknowledges he doesn’t have a thing to do with interstate pipelines–they’re approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Other agencies (federal and state) oversee the pipelines once they are built. But Quigley thinks if he can get both sides–pipeliners and towns–together and try to at least get a dialogue going, perhaps something good will come from it. Not a bad idea as ideas go. One recommendation: don’t tell the nutters which Starbucks you’re meeting at…
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Washington County | Wastewater

Range Re-Opens 2 of 3 Water Impoundments in Washington County, PA
March 11, 2015March 11, 2015

Last September Range Resources was fined $4.15 million for a series of violations at eight water impoundments they operate in southwestern PA (see PA DEP Fines Range Resources $4.15M for Wastewater Impoundments). As part of the deal worked out with the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) under then-Sec. Chris Abruzzo, Range agreed to shut down five of the eight impoundments. Actually, all eight of the impoundments ceased operation either during or prior to last September. Two of the remaining three impoundments–the “Carter” and “Carol Baker” impoundments–are now back up and running. The Carter impoundment is handling only fresh water these days, while the Carol Baker impoundment has been upgraded and once again handles wastewater. The remaining “Jon Day” impoundment is being upgraded to begin handling wastewater again, when the weather breaks…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation | West Virginia | Wetzel County

WV Landowners Say They’re Bullied by Mountain Valley Pipeline
March 11, 2015March 11, 2015

Last June EQT and NextEra US Gas Assets formed a joint venture to build a 330-mile pipeline from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA to deliver abundant, cheap Marcellus and Utica Shale gas to markets throughout the southeast (see EQT Announces New Marcellus/Utica Pipeline to Southeastern US). The new pipeline was dubbed the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project. Since that time, MVP has filed paperwork with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which has jurisdiction on whether or not to build it because the pipeline crosses state lines (see EQT’s WV to VA Pipeline Open Season a Success, FERC Filing in Oct). In February, rumors began to bubble that the pipeline is changing its route (see WV to VA Mountain Valley Pipeline Changing Routes?). There has been some resistance, as there always is, on the part of some landowners who refuse to let surveyors on their property. So MVP sent letters to landowners threatening to sue them if they don’t allow the surveyors access. How can they sue? Using the power of eminent domain–but FERC hasn’t yet approved the project which would trigger the right to use eminent domain…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH

NE Wackos on a Rampage: Demand FERC Stop Approving Pipelines
March 11, 2015March 11, 2015

Here’s what passes for thinking in anti-drilling land: Fossil fuels, when burned, release carbon into the atmosphere. Carbon is bad (at least it is for anti-drillers), although you and all other animals breathe carbon out with every breath and plants breathe it in–it’s a requirement for all of life to exist. Still, play along, k? Because natural gas is a fossil fuel, it’s evil. By burning it you pollute Mother Earth and will cause Her to bake with mythical global warming (although we almost froze to death this winter in the northeast). So fracking is the ultimate rape of Mother Earth, as stated by none other than that towering intellect Yoko Ono when singing the song “Don’t Frack My Mother” (see Yoko Ono and Son Sean Lennon Go on Anti-Fracking Tirade). Fracked shale wells require pipelines. If you can stop pipelines, you can stop fracking. Who approves the big pipelines? The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). So who’s the latest target of anti-drilling wackos? You got it–FERC…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Wastewater

New Draft Drilling Regulations in PA: Wastewater Impoundments Out
March 10, 2015March 10, 2015

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has been working on revisions to oil and gas regulations, something called Chapter 78, since 2011. In 2012 the new Act 13 drilling law required the DEP to update Chapter 78 to reflect the new reality of shale drilling. Over the past three years, the DEP held nine public hearings and received some 24,000 public comments on the proposed changes (see PA DEP Extends Roadshow for Public Comment on New Drilling Rules). The new rules were supposed to be over and done with long before now, but got derailed by last year’s election cycle. New governor, new secretary of the DEP, and guess what? The proposed rules have changed yet again. There’s a new due date too: the final rules won’t be ready until early 2016. Yesterday the DEP released yet another revision to the rules (we’ve lost track how many times the rules have been revised and changed). Drillers under Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf and his PennFutureDEP Sec. John Quigley want to increase the red tape drillers must navigate. Among the changes in this latest draft (full copy below) are…
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Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH

OH Law Firm Asks FERC to Stop ET Rover Pipeline Eminent Domain
March 10, 2015March 10, 2015

Columbus, OH law firm has filed a motion with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) challenging Energy Transfer Partners’ ET Rover application before FERC. The issue at the heart of the motion is to prevent ET Rover from invoking eminent domain and steamrollering over landowners, building the pipeline without an agreement in place with each individual landowner first. When pipeline companies have the power of eminent domain, they hold all the cards. They can say, “Here’s the offer–take it or leave it–and if you leave it, we’ll build the pipeline through your land anyway at the price we want.” We’ve never been fans of eminent domain for pipelines. Far better for pipeline companies to work it out with landowners and pay them–or reroute it through someone else’s property who will play ball. We acknowledge it’s a thorny issue and not completely black and white. ET Rover is an 830-mile, $4.4 billion pipeline that will flow Marcellus and Utica Shale gas from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada (see ET Rover Pipeline’s 800-Mile Journey Begins with FERC Filing). The bulk of the pipeline will run diagonally from southeast to northwest across Ohio. Just yesterday we told you about ET Rover’s program to help landowners (see ET Rover Pipeline Hires Land Stewards to Protect the Land in OH). The motion filed with FERC, from what we can tell in reading the press release and the motion itself (embedded below) is not an attempt to stop ET Rover–it’s an attempt to give landowners more negotiating power and leave them firmly in control of whether, and how much, they will accept to allow the pipeline through their property…
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Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NYS DEC Releases 2013 Annual Report: Not One Marcellus Mention
March 10, 2015March 10, 2015

By Andy Leahy

Sometime last week, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation’s Mineral Resources Division quietly posted its 2013 annual report–finally getting around to covering that year’s activity in the extractive (and regulatory) industries, concerning oil, gas, and other minerals. The report covers a year that ended some 14 months previously, which is a typical breakneck schedule in the Empire State for finishing up these kinds of things. No surprises on the highlights. Natural gas production was down 11%. Oil production was down 5%. Completed wells were down 3%. Drilling permits issued were down 5%. How about the number of occurrences of such phrases or words as “Marcellus shale,” “Utica shale,” “hydraulic,” “frack,” or possibly even “SGEIS”?…
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