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SRBC Approved 46 Shale Gas Well Pad Water Use Permits in March
The highly functional and responsible Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), unlike its dysfunctional and irresponsible counterpart, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), continues to support the shale energy industry by approving water withdrawals and consumptive use requests for responsible, safe shale drilling. The SRBC published a notice in the April 25th Pennsylvania Bulletin that the Executive Director of the SRBC approved and/or renewed 46 general water use permits in March for individual shale gas well drilling pads in Bradford, Clinton, Elk, Lycoming, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, and Wyoming counties. Read More “SRBC Approved 46 Shale Gas Well Pad Water Use Permits in March”
Pennsylvania’s Attorney General, Dave Sunday, pretends to be a Republican, but he’s really a Democrat. He’s also anti-shale, as evidenced by a wild attack against Seneca Resources launched on Friday. Sunday’s office filed three separate criminal complaints against Seneca, charging the company with 64 counts of criminal violations of the Solid Waste Management Act and 36 counts of criminal violations of the Clean Streams Law. Sunday, like his left-wing predecessors, is turning what should be regulatory enforcement actions into crimes. No wonder some drillers are saying “screw you” to Pennsylvania and moving their drilling operations to West Virginia and Ohio. 
For the week of May 12 – 18, the number of permits issued to drill new wells in the Marcellus/Utica was up five from the previous week. Last week, 31 new permits were issued in the M-U. In the Keystone State (PA), seven new permits were issued. The top permittee was Range Resources, which was issued four permits in Washington County. Seneca Resources scored two permits in two different counties: Elk and Tioga. PennEnergy Resources received a single permit in Butler County. 
Diversified Energy, with significant assets in the Marcellus/Utica region (and other regions too), owns approximately 8 million acres of leases with close to 70,000 (mostly) conventional oil and gas wells. The company’s business model is to buy lower-producing wells on the cheap and find ways to make them more productive. One of the new ways Diversified is looking to make money with old wells is by mining cryptocurrency at wells in remote locations not hooked to a pipeline network. In March 2023, MDN told you that Diversified would try crypto-mining at a well in Elk County, Pennsylvania (see 
The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced yesterday that it had issued an oil and gas wastewater injection well permit to Seneca Resources to continue operating well #38268 in Highland Township, Elk County. The EPA permit allows Seneca to inject up to 75,000 barrels monthly (3.125 million gallons). This well is one of two injection wells Seneca operates at that location. It was a long road for Seneca to get these two wells online, and a welcomed development that the EPA is extending the well’s operating permit. 
We spotted a press release about pipeline repair company operating in the Marcellus/Utica, located in Ohio, Precision Pipeline Services, buying out a pipeline repair company based in Pennsylvania, Allegheny Contracting. We checked, and we’ve never written about either company. We always get a thrill when uncovering new companies involved in the M-U we didn’t know about. Both companies are privately-held, and the financial particulars of the deal were not disclosed.
For the week of July 22 – 28, a total of nine permits were issued to drill new shale wells in Marcellus/Utica. Pennsylvania had the fewest with just two new permits, one each for Seneca Resources and Rice Drilling (i.e., EQT). Ohio had the most with four new permits, all of them for EOG Resources for a single pad in Noble County. West Virginia came in between with three new permits, all three for Antero Resources in Tyler County.
Last week, the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners announced it had cut two different deals with Pennsylvania General Energy (PGE). Both deals involve land swaps with the prospect of new shale drilling by PGE on the way in both Lycoming County and Sullivan County. The Game Commission’s remit is “to protect, propagate, manage and preserve the game or wildlife of Pennsylvania.” Money from shale drilling helps the Game Commission accomplish its objectives. Both deals with PGE will provide the Game Commission with a 16% royalty for any natural gas produced.