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16 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Aug 21 – 27

New shale permits issued for Aug 21 – 27 in the Marcellus/Utica decreased once again. Up down, up down, up down. That’s what it feels like. There were 16 new permits issued last week, down nearly half from the 27 issued the prior week. Last week’s permit tally included 11 new permits in Pennsylvania, 5 new permits in Ohio, and no new permits in West Virginia (WV has issued no permits in four of the last five weeks). The top permittee for the week, for the third week in a row, was Chesapeake Energy, receiving 5 permits–1 in Bradford County and 4 in Sullivan County.
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27 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Aug 14 – 20

New shale permits issued for Aug 14 – 20 in the Marcellus/Utica finally turned around. There were 27 new permits issued last week, way up from the 10 issued the prior week. Last week’s permit tally included 21 new permits in Pennsylvania, 2 new permits in Ohio, and 4 new permits in West Virginia (after no permits in WV for three weeks in a row). The top permittee for the week, for the second week in a row, was Chesapeake Energy, receiving 6 permits–5 in Bradford County and 1 in Susquehanna County.
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Possible Frac-Out Near EQT Pad in Greene County…One Year Later

One year ago, in July 2022, MDN brought you news of a possible frac-out, or “inadvertent return” that happens when drilling mud pops out of places where it’s not supposed to–places outside the borehole being drilled (see Possible Frac-Out Reported at EQT Well Site in Greene County, PA). A landowner who lives near a well being drilled and fracked by EQT in Greene County complained her water well was fouled by EQT’s drilling, and that a nearby abandoned well was releasing fluids and natural gas. According to the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), EQT confirmed some of its fluids were “communicating” with the abandoned well. A year later, the nearby community of New Freeport, where the frac-out happened, says the situation remains unresolved.
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10 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Aug 7 – 13

New shale permits issued for Aug 7 – 13 in the Marcellus/Utica crashed for a second week in a row. There were 10 new permits issued last week, down 14 issued the previous week (half of the 29 issued three weeks ago). Last week’s permit tally included 10 new permits in Pennsylvania, no new permits in Ohio, and no new permits in West Virginia (third week in a row for WV). The top permittee for the week was Chesapeake Energy, receiving 6 permits–4 in Bradford County and 2 in Susquehanna County.
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Equitrans Relocating Two Horizontal Gas Storage Wells in Greene Co.

Equitrans Midstream owns two natural gas storage wells in the Swarts Complex and Hunters Cave Storage Fields area of Greene County, PA–in Center, Franklin, Morris, and Washington Townships. CONSOL Energy, which used to be part of CNX Resources but is now a standalone company focusing on the coal industry, plans to mine coal above and around the Equitrans Hunters Cave and Swarts Natural Gas Storage Fields over the next several decades. So Equitrans is proposing to abandon its two existing storage wells (near where CONSOL needs to work) and drill two new wells in the same vicinity–just not near CONSOL’s coal mining activities.
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29 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jul 24-30

New shale permits issued for Jul 24-30 in the Marcellus/Utica were down just a couple, but still a nice number. There were 29 new permits issued last week, down from the 31 issued the previous week. Last week’s permit tally included 22 new permits in Pennsylvania, 7 new permits in Ohio, and no new permits in West Virginia. The top permittee for the week was EQT Corporation, receiving a whopping 16 permits in Greene County, PA.
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FERC Approves Constr. Startup for Ohio Valley Connector Expansion

In February 2022, Equitrans Midstream announced it had filed a new pipeline expansion project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (see Equitrans Files New $160M Pipe Expansion Project with FERC). Called the Ohio Valley Connector Expansion Project (or OVCX), the $160 million project will add compression along Equitrans pipelines in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia that allow the company to flow an extra 350 MMcf/d (million cubic feet per day) of natural gas. The big news coming from yesterday’s Equitrans 2Q update is that FERC issued a notice on July 31st allowing Equitrans to begin construction on OVCX. Equitrans said construction will begin “in the coming days.”
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EQT Donates $500K to Wisecarver Reservoir Project in Greene Co.

EQT Corporation, the largest natural gas producer in the U.S., recently donated $500,000 to the Wisecarver Reservoir Recreation Project near Waynesburg in Greene County, PA. The project will develop the 360 acres around the reservoir into a destination for families and outdoor enthusiasts. EQT has major drilling operations in Greene County, and according to EQT CEO Toby Rice, the company “strives to be a good neighbor and give back to the communities where we operate.”
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6 New Shale Well Permits Issued for Tardy PA Jul 10-16

Rich Negrin, newly ensconced Secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) in Pennsylvania, was supposed to be the Great White Horse riding it to correct the problems at the DEP and “make the trains run on time” (i.e., clean up the bureaucratic dysfunction at the agency). He’s been running the agency since January, yet we haven’t seen any noticeable changes. Is it too soon to expect results? Last Friday, as happens about once every other month, the DEP’s oil and gas reporting database was offline, throwing an error. We could not bring you PA’s permit numbers for Friday (see 17 New Shale Well Permits Issued for OH-WV (Not PA) Jul 10-16). Sometime in the last 72 hours, the computer geeks got their act together and got the computer system working again (after we pestered them). Today we bring you the permit report for PA that should have been available on Friday, showing PA issued a lousy six new shale permits for the week of July 10-16.
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39 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 26-Jul 2

New shale permits issued for Jun 26 – Jul 2 in the Marcellus/Utica saw a dramatic increase, thanks to a bump in Pennsylvania’s numbers. There were 39 new permits issued last week, way up from 11 issued the previous week. Last week’s permit tally included 30 new permits in Pennsylvania, 8 new permits in Ohio, and just 1 new permit in West Virginia. Coterra Energy scored the most new permits with a whopping 12 issued in Susquehanna County, PA (for two well pads). Range Resources had the second most new permits, with 7 permits issued in Washington County, PA (for one pad).
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25 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 29-Jun 4

New shale permits issued for May 29-Jun 4 in the Marcellus/Utica finally went higher again last week. There were 25 new permits issued, up from the dismal 8 new permits issued the previous week. Last week’s permit tally included 13 new permits for Pennsylvania, 6 new permits for Ohio, and 6 new permits in West Virginia. EQT scored the most new permits with 7 issued in Greene County, PA. Close behind in the #2 position was Antero Resources, with 6 new permits issued in Ritchie County, WV.
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26 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 8-14

New shale permits issued for May 8-14 in the Marcellus/Utica rose from the prior week. There were 26 new permits issued last week, up from 20 in the prior week (and 18 the week before that). Last week’s tally included 13 new permits for Pennsylvania, 10 new permits for Ohio, and 3 new permits in West Virginia. Last week the top receiver of new permits was CNX Resources, with 7 permits issued (5 of them in Westmoreland County, PA, and 2 in Greene County, PA). Encino Energy, showing up as EAP Ohio in the report, had the second-highest tally with 5 permits (issued in Harrison County, OH).
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ECA Marcellus Trust I Gives Investors 4.3 Cents per Unit in 1Q23

ECA Marcellus Trust I, the royalty interest holder in some of the wells drilled and maintained by Greylock Energy in Greene County, PA, announced it would issue a payout (the equivalent of a dividend) to unitholders of 4.3 cents per unit for 1Q23. That is down from 4Q22 when the Trust paid out 12.4 cents per unit, and down from 3Q22 when the Trust paid out 18 cents per unit. The company continues to hold back some profits ($90,000 in 1Q23) in order to build a cash reserve.
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20 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 1-7

New shale permits issued for May 1-7 in the Marcellus/Utica rose slightly from the prior week. There were 20 new permits issued last week, up from 18 in the prior week. Last week’s tally included 15 new permits for Pennsylvania, 5 new permits for Ohio, and no new permits in West Virginia. Last week the top receiver of new permits was PennEnergy Resources, with 5 permits issued in Armstrong County, PA. Chesapeake Energy was second-highest, with 4 permits issued in Bradford County, PA.
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18 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 24-30

New shale permits issued for Apr. 24-30 in the Marcellus/Utica fell from the prior week. There were 18 new permits issued last week, down from 25 in the prior week. Last week’s tally included 8 new permits for Pennsylvania, 4 new permits for Ohio, and 6 new permits in West Virginia. Last week the top receiver of new permits was Antero Resources, with 6 permits issued in Tyler County, WV. EQT (Rice Drilling) was second-highest, with 4 permits issued in Greene County, PA.
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25 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 17-23

New shale permits issued for Apr. 17-23 in the Marcellus/Utica picked up five from the prior week. There were 25 new permits issued in total last week, up from 20 in the prior week. Last week’s tally included 21 new permits for Pennsylvania, 2 new permits for Ohio, and 2 new permits in West Virginia. Last week the top receiver of new permits was Range Resources with 7 permits issued in Washington County, PA. Greylock Energy was number two with 6 new permits issued in Greene County, PA.
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