PA Gov Wolf Signs into Law $2.1B Tax Credit Bill for H2, NatGas
Pennsylvania House Bill (HB) 1059 is legislation to provide $142 million annually in state tax credits for several purposes, including clean hydrogen hubs, use of natural gas, semiconductor manufacturing, and milk processors. HB 1059 was approved by both the state Senate and House last week and sent along to Gov. Tom Wolf for his signature (see PA $2.1B Tax Credit Bill for H2, Natural Gas Passes & Goes to Gov). We are delighted to report Gov. Wolf signed HB 1059 into law yesterday, much to the frustration and consternation of the environmental left.
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In June, seemingly out of nowhere, a plan to build an LNG export facility on the banks of the Delaware River south of Philadelphia made big headlines in Philly (see 
Something of an improvement from last week’s new permits report when there were only 11 new permits. For the week of October 24-30, there were 28 new permits. But not because of the return of new permits in Pennsylvania. Instead, Ohio was the shining light. PA reported 11 new permits, all of them in Lycoming County, with seven going to Repsol and four going to Inflection Energy. Ohio issued 16 new permits, with Encino Energy grabbing six, Southwestern Energy getting five, and Ascent Energy receiving four. Finally, WV had a single new permit, for Tug Hill Operating (soon to be EQT), in Wetzel County.
In June, MDN told you about this year’s distribution of last year’s (2021) Pennsylvania impact fee revenue (PA’s version of a severance tax) to local municipalities and to the black hole of Harrisburg politicians (see 
The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has, for a second time, served a notice of violation (NOV) of the PA Clean Streams Law to Pennsylvania General Energy (PGE) for causing sediment pollution in the Loyalsock Creek north of Montoursville (Lycoming County). PGE is constructing a natural gas pipeline, a freshwater pipeline, and it withdraws fresh water for Marcellus Shale-related activities at the site.
Two days ago, we told you that Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Republicans from the state legislature are reportedly working hard on a “massive development package” of tax credits that would, among other things, encourage MORE natural gas development in the Keystone State (see 
Two days ago, Range Resources issued its third quarter 2022 update, and yesterday the company held a conference call for upper management to brief analysts. By all accounts, Range had a great 3Q. Range produced an average of 2.13 billion cubic feet equivalent per day (Bcfe/d), with approximately 70% of it as natural gas and the rest in NGLs. Range only spent $138 million to drill, but cash flow from operations was a staggering $550 million–the highest in company history. The company drilled 7 wells and completed 22 wells during 3Q. Range brought 12 wells online to sales in the southwestern part of PA, and it brought 6 wells online to sales in northeastern PA.
A court case decided in late April in Pennsylvania Superior Court appears (to us) to have significant ramifications for landowners and drillers with respect to deducting post-production expenses. The case is Dressler Family, LP v. PennEnergy Resources, LLC (copy of the decision below), and it addresses “market enhancement” royalty clauses found in many PA leases. Market enhancement clauses typically prohibit the deduction of post-production costs that are incurred when transforming gas into a marketable form. Some drillers ignore such clauses and deduct all “post-production costs” from the landowner’s royalty based on the drillers’ incorrect assumption that gas is “marketable” at the wellhead. This case and decision helped clear up definitions of what is and is not marketable gas.
Although we didn’t watch all of last night’s debate between Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Dr. Mehmet Oz, we’ve read plenty of accounts and have watched some of the clips. Fetterman, by all accounts, was a disaster. We read numerous accounts by both Republicans and Democrats that watching Fetterman self-destruct was “painful.” In particular, Fetterman stumbled and bumbled when rigorously questioned about his flip-flop on the fracking issue. We watched it (segment embedded below), and indeed, it is painful to watch.
Today we bring you a guest post from MDN friend Garland Thompson, a gifted reporter/writer who covers energy and technology issues for US Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine, the Philadelphia Tribune, and other periodicals. State Sen. Gene Yaw will host a hearing in Philadelphia on Thursday to explore LNG, its role on the world stage, and the potential role Philly can play in providing it. Using the upcoming hearing as a jumping-off point, in this post, Garland connects the dots between proposed House Bill 2458 (see