Register Support for M-U Hydrogen Hub at Scoping Hearing or Online
Last August, MDN told you that the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) officially received its first $30 million from the Bidenistas (see EQT & Others Enter “Phase 1” of Hydrogen Hub; DOE Cuts $30M Check). ARCH2 is getting $925 million from a $7 billion pot. ARCH2, one of seven projects to win approval, was selected specifically because it will use Marcellus/Utica shale gas as the feedstock to create hydrogen (so-called “blue” hydrogen). The project got an official HQ last year at the West Virginia University (WVU) Innovation Corp. center in Morgantown, West Virginia (see ARCH2 Hydrogen Hub Gets an Official Headquarters in Morgantown, WV). Residents from WV, PA, and OH who want to register their concerns, opposition, or (most importantly) support for ARCH2 and the projects that are part of the plan can do so either at an online scoping hearing on Jan. 16 or by submitting comments via email (or in writing) by Mar. 3. Read More “Register Support for M-U Hydrogen Hub at Scoping Hearing or Online”
For the week of Dec 23 – 29, permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica took a dive, which isn’t surprising given it was the end of the year. There were only 12 new permits issued for Dec. 23 – 29, less than half the 27 issued the week before. The Keystone State (PA) issued seven new permits, with five going to Repsol in Bradford and Tioga counties and two going to EQT (and Rice, owned by EQT) in Greene County. Buckeye State (OH) issued five new permits, all of which went to Encino Energy (EAP) in Carroll and Harrison counties. The Mountain State (WV), issuing precisely zero new permits. Must be the WV DEP folks were out of the office for the holiday. 
One of the significant stories of 2024 in the Ohio Utica was about Austin Master Services (AMS), a radiological waste management solutions company in Martins Ferry (Belmont County), Ohio, that handles fracking waste (trucks it for disposal). AMS ran into trouble when it ran out of money. The Martins Ferry facility where waste is temporarily stored went from a permitted maximum of 600 tons of stored waste to over 10,000 tons, in violation of its permit. The Ohio Attorney General’s office filed a lawsuit against the company in March to force compliance. Local newspaper The Times Leader, in doing a Top 10 stories of the year, provides an update on AMS and where things stand with the cleanup. 
This is your friendly (somewhat snarky) semi-regular reminder from MDN that the PTT ethane cracker project in Ohio is dead (see 
This is an interesting pattern we’ve not seen in a long time for the venerable Baker Hughes rig count. The national rig count and the count for the Marcellus/Utica remained the same for multiple weeks in a row. The national count was 589 active rigs last week (now four weeks in a row). The M-U count was 34 last week (now three weeks in a row). The national count remains rangebound between 581 and 589 since June 2024 (except for Sep. 13, when it hit 590 for a single week). The M-U remained static last week, with PA at 15 rigs, OH at 9 rigs, and WV at 10 rigs. 
An undisclosed shale driller has asked the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) to consider opening up an additional 4,360 acres of state-owned Egypt Valley Wildlife Area for shale drilling under the land. A new “nomination” for drilling was also sent to the OGLMC for 383 acres of Jockey Hollow Wildlife Area, located near Egypt Valley. Both tracts nominated for consideration are in Belmont County, OH. 
The Baker Hughes national rig count dramatically increased three weeks ago, adding seven rigs for a national count of 589 (see 
A lawsuit that slipped by us (and is still playing out) that began in Carroll County, OH, has major ramifications for landowners and drillers across the state. The case is EAP Ohio LLC v. Sunnydale Farms LLC, et al. in which 13 oil and gas leases were executed in 2008 and 2009 in Carroll County, Ohio. The 2008 Leases contained an identical royalty clause that limited post-production deductions to three categories: transportation, compression, and/or dehydration to deliver the gas for sale. After drilling wells on those properties, EAP (Encino Energy) deducted several other items from royalties, including costs incurred for processing, treating, fuel, gathering, and trucking. The lawsuit tussles with the issue of how terms are defined and whether these “extra” categories are allowed under the lease’s language. 
In November, MDN told you that Diversified Energy and EQT Corporation had settled a class action lawsuit originally brought by several West Virginia landowners (see 
One week ago, MDN told you that Ohio House Bill (HB) 308 had passed votes by both the full House and Senate and was heading to the desk of RINO Gov. Mike DeWine for his signature (see 
JobsOhio
Oil wildcatting is the process of drilling exploratory wells in areas with little to no history of oil and gas production. Wildcatting is a high-risk activity that involves drilling in unproven or fully depleted areas. Wildcat wells are often drilled far from other wells and without the use of well logs or other geological data. Wildcatting can be profitable—or spectacularly unprofitable. A recent Hart Energy article reports that “wildcatting is back.” The very first part of the article focuses on wildcatting that is happening in the Ohio Utica Shale.