Snyder Bros Off the Hook for Penalties & Interest re Strippers
In December 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that so-called “stripper wells” (low-producing wells) can be taxed under the 2012 Act 13 law, slapped with an impact tax assessment if those wells produce more than 90 thousand cubic feet per day (Mcf/d) of gas in a single month, any month (see PA Supreme Court Rules Strippers Not Exempt from Impact Fee). Snyder Brothers, the driller whose stripper wells were the target of the lawsuit, asked the Supremes to reconsider their decision. They did, kicking elements of the case down to a lower court (Commonwealth Court). Synder still owes the impact tax, that’s not in question. But Snyder argued they shouldn’t also have to pay interest and late-payment penalties just because they challenged the original assessment.
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Pennsylvania House Bill (HB) 1100, aimed at attracting new petrochemical investment to the state, was previously passed by the PA House, and last week, by the Senate (see 
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf flat out, 100% lied when he introduced his latest annual budget on Tuesday, declaring “it doesn’t raise taxes.” B.S. As he has done for the past six budgets, Wolf once again is calling for a new severance tax on the Marcellus. On top of the existing impact tax (the equivalent of a severance tax). Wolf’s plan calls for a new tax that would steal $4.5 billion out of the pockets of drillers and landowners in order to redistribute their hard-earned wealth to a panoply of others.
Pennsylvania State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, Majority Chair of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, doesn’t put up with the juvenile antics from the Democrats on his committee–like Danielle Friel Otten and Greg Vitali–from those who violate decorum by pretending they want to ask a question when in fact they want to pontificate like the gasbags they are. Wednesday at a hearing on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), Metcalfe shut down Otten and Vitali when they attempted to violate rules and bloviate instead of asking relevant questions.
A fascinating new study has just been published in the peer-reviewed journal Science of The Total Environment. The new study, titled “Characterizing anecdotal claims of groundwater contamination in shale energy basins,” looks at the perception of landowners who say local fracking activities have impacted (polluted) their water wells–versus reality. The study finds that in most cases the so-called pollution problems of these water wells is (using our own words here) “all in the heads” of the landowners. It’s not real. Fracking, in fact, has NOT caused the pollution of their wells. Researchers studied wells in the Texas Barnett and Eagle Ford, the Louisiana Haynesville, and (yep) the Pennsylvania Marcellus–in Dimock.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro claims an accident in 2017 (based on human error) that resulted in 63,000 gallons of produced water in Lycoming County, PA spilling onto the ground (outside the well pad) is negligent and a crime. Shapiro has filed criminal charges against Inflection Energy and the subcontracting company they used, Double D. We view it as yet another stunt by a man who wants to tee himself up to run for governor.
A longtime dispute between the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Range Resources reemerged in January when the DEP ordered Range to fix a well in Lycoming County the DEP alleges is leaking methane into the surrounding ground and water supplies. The DEP says faulty cement casing allows methane to leak. Range maintains the methane was already in the ground/water supply long before it drilled the well. Range is appealing the DEP’s order to “fix it” to a special environmental court.
The U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Energy (of the Committee on Energy and Commerce) held a hearing yesterday called “Modernizing the Natural Gas Act to Ensure it Works for Everyone.” The Natural Gas Act of 1938 created the Federal Power Commission (FPC), giving the agency control over the regulation of interstate natural gas sales and pipelines. Later on, the FPC was dissolved and became the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). One of the witnesses at the hearing, there to bash FERC, was (suprise!) THE Delaware Riverkeeper herself, Maya van Rossum.
Listen up those interested in a new job working for the shale industry: JobNewsUSA.com is conducting an 
Pennsylvania House Bill (HB) 1100, aimed at attracting NEW petrochemical investment to the state, is due to be voted on (and passed) by the PA Senate this week. Gov. Tom Wolf (liberal Democrat) has vowed to veto the bill–denying the state billions of economic stimulus it could receive. Why the veto? Your guess is as good as ours. Likely because it will encourage more use of PA’s abundant natural gas supplies, and that doesn’t sit well with radicalized enviro types.
In January the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) finally, after more than a year, allowed Energy Transfer to restart the final bits of construction needed to complete the Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipeline project (see 
Last Thursday MDN editor Jim Willis had the pleasure of pre-recording an appearance on the radio program Shale Gas News, co-hosted by Jim’s friend Bill desRosiers (from Cabot Oil & Gas). We have the recorded segment below. In the interview, Jim offers up the main “threats” that he sees for the Marcellus/Utica (indeed all shale drilling) in 2020.
Late last week National Fuel Gas Company (NFG), the parent company of Marcellus/Utica driller Seneca Resources, issued its first quarter (everyone else’s fourth quarter) financial and operational update. NFG CEO and President Dave Bauer proclaimed, “Our team has done a great job cracking the code on our Utica development program” in Tioga County, PA. However, because of the ongoing pricemageddon with natgas prices in the basement, Seneca President John McGinnis said the company will drop to running a single rig for the balance of 2020.