Equitrans to Drill 2 New Gas Storage Wells in Greene County, PA
Equitrans, the builder of the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline project, is more than just a one-trick (one pipeline) pony. Equitrans owns 940 miles of FERC-regulated, interstate pipelines that have interconnect points to seven interstate pipelines and multiple local distribution companies (LDCs). The transmission and storage system is supported by 43 compressor units, with total throughput capacity of approximately 4.4 Bcf per day and compression of approximately 136,000 horsepower, and 18 natural gas storage reservoirs, which have a peak withdrawal capacity of approximately 820 million cubic feet (MMcf) per day and a working gas capacity of approximately 43 Bcf. Two of Equitrans’ 18 storage reservoirs — Hunters Cave and Swarts, both in Greene County, PA — are getting a makeover.
Read More “Equitrans to Drill 2 New Gas Storage Wells in Greene County, PA”
There were 23 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica during the week of Jan. 8-14, versus 18 permits issued for the prior week. Pennsylvania issued 13 new permits last week. Ohio issued just 2 new permits. West Virginia issued 8 new permits — for the second week in a row. EQT scored the top slot for new permits, receiving 7 permits to drill in Lycoming and Greene counties in PA.
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 
WhiteHawk Energy, headquartered in Philadelphia with ownership of mineral and royalty interests for 850,000 gross unit acres and over 2,500 producing horizontal shale wells between the Marcellus and the Haynesville, announced yesterday the acquisition of additional Marcellus Shale natural gas mineral and royalty assets for a total purchase price of $54 million. WhiteHawk owns mineral and royalty rights across nearly half a million M-U acres. The deal does not increase WhiteHawk’s total acreage but does increase the company’s percentage of ownership across that acreage.
A dozen residents from Greene County, PA, filed a lawsuit on Monday against the East Dunkard Water Authority and several private companies, including CNX Resources, claiming (among other things) that wastewater from CNX’s fracking work in the Marcellus Shale “tainted the water supply in Dunkard Creek” and that the tainted water has affected the health of those drinking and using it. Just remember, anyone can sue anyone for anything. That doesn’t mean the party being sued is culpable in any way, nor the lawsuit is legitimate.
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 
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.