When people communicate, that’s a good thing. When a shale well “communicates” with nearby conventional wells, that’s a bad thing. And that’s what happened with a CNX Resources Utica well being fracked in Westmoreland County last week.
Read More “CNX Hits Major Problem Fracking Utica Well Near SWPA Reservoir”
The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry (PA Chamber) recently filed a brief in Commonwealth Court opposing THE Delaware Riverkeeper in a case that still has us angry and baffled. The case brought by Riverkeeper is clear across the state, hundreds of miles from the Delaware River Basin where Riverkeeper supposedly operates, and attempts to force a local municipality to adopt zoning ordinances it doesn’t want to adopt. And it involves Martians.
Read More “PA Chamber Files Brief in Martian School Court Case”
Yes, we told you so. We told you that if our friends in PA were to unwisely reelect Tom Wolf for a second (and thankfully final) term as governor, he would continue to fight for a Marcellus-killing severance tax each and every year of his ignominious second term. Democrats (and some Republicans) just can’t keep their hands off other people’s money–it’s in their DNA.
Read More “PA Gov. Wolf Launches Severance Tax Fight 5th Year in a Row”
How the voters of northeast Pennsylvania who support shale energy continue to reelect Gene Yaw as their State Senator is beyond us. He’s proven in the past that he will fold like a cheap suit on the issue of a severance tax. He did so once again yesterday, implying he supports Democrat Gov. Wolf’s latest effort to tax the shale industry into oblivion.
Read More “PA Sen. Gene Yaw, in Heart of Marcellus, Supports Severance Tax”
In November the Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed to hear a case, Briggs v. Southwestern Energy, that is hands-down the most important court case to ever happen regarding the Marcellus Shale in PA. And no, we’re not exaggerating. A blizzard of briefs by Southwestern and those supporting Southwestern were filed earlier this week.
Read More ““Rule of Capture” Briefs Filed w/PA Supreme Court in Briggs Case”
The Utica Shale is beginning to get noticed in southwestern Pennsylvania. The rise of the Utica can be traced back to a single well drilled by CNX Resources in 2015.
Read More “The Rise of the Utica…in Southwest Pennsylvania!”
Bats are a big deal in the Pennsylvania Marcellus. Why? Drillers and midstreamers can’t cut down trees from April 1st through October 31st of each year for fear of killing a northern long-eared bat that may be roosting in one of those trees. The PA Board of Game Commissioners have just added two more bat species to the list, further complicating the issue.
Read More “PA Drillers/Pipelines Must Now Deal with 3 Protected Bat Species”
It turns out Pennsylvania’s current Attorney General, Josh Shapiro, is not much different than his predecessor, Kathleen Kane (who is sitting in jail for committing perjury). Kane, and now Shapiro, have targeted the Marcellus Shale industry, accusing drillers of committing crimes against the environment. It’s cheap and it’s sleazy and a total abuse of the office, all for political grandstanding.
Read More “PA AG Investigates Shale Drillers for “Enviro Crimes””
How is it not child abuse to brainwash young kids with your particular brand of sick environmental radicalism? That’s apparently what THE Delaware Riverkeeper herself has done–brainwashed little kids.
Read More “PA Enviro Radicals Brainwash/Use Children to Pressure Gov. Wolf”
Banpu Pcl, Thailand’s largest coal producer, invested over $500 million in 2016-2017 to buy existing Marcellus wells and acreage in northeast Pennsylvania (see our Banpu stories here). The last such purchase was in December 2017 (see Banpu/Kalnin Buys 5,289 Ac & 35 Wells in NEPA Marcellus for $105M). Banpu is back–in a big way.
Read More “Banpu Opens Field Office in NEPA, Looks to Invest $300M in 2019”
A few weeks ago MDN brought you an updated map showing where Utica drilling has (and has not) happening in Ohio (see Ohio Utica & Marcellus Maps – Where Does Drilling Happen?). We heard from a number of MDN subscribers asking for similar maps for Pennsylvania and West Virginia. We struck out for WV, but we do have a map that shows the location for shale wells in PA.
Read More “PA Marcellus Map – Where Does Drilling Happen?”
A couple of developments to share with you about the Mariner East 1 NGL pipeline which has been completely shut down since Jan. 21 when a new sinkhole appeared in Chester County exposing a few feet of the bare pipe (see New Mariner East 1 Sinkhole Appears, PA PUC Shuts Down Pipeline).
Read More “PA PUC Begins Geologic Testing Near ME1 Sinkhole”
MDN previously reported that last Sunday a new sinkhole appeared exposing a tiny section of the Mariner East 1 (ME1) NGL pipeline in Chester County, PA, prompting Sunoco Logistics Partners to close down ME1 in the Greater Philadelphia area (see New Mariner East 1 Sinkhole Appears, PA PUC Shuts Down Pipeline).
Read More “All of Mariner East 1 NGL Pipe Shut Down Indefinitely by PA PUC”
Pennsylvania’s Democrat Attorney General, Josh Shapiro, held a public meeting last night in Towanda (Bradford County), PA to talk about the state’s now three-year-old lawsuit against Chesapeake Energy, a lawsuit alleging the company has shafted landowners out of gas royalty money.
Read More “PA AG Will Continue Chesapeake Royalty Lawsuit in Bradford Co.”
Coincidentally on the topic of royalty lawsuits (see today’s companion story, PA AG Will Continue Chesapeake Royalty Lawsuit in Bradford Co.), MDN came across a story (and a lawsuit) we previously had not heard about. An important case brought by landowners in Wyoming County, PA.
Read More “Fed Court Allows PA Royalty Lawsuit Against Chesapeake to Proceed”
Since 2012, Pennsylvania has collected the equivalent of a severance tax from Marcellus Shale drillers via something called an impact fee. Same concept as a severance tax. You drill a well, gas comes out, you pay a tax. Except with an impact fee you pay whether or not anything comes out of the ground–a more reliable source of tax revenue than a severance tax!
Read More “PA IFO Report Says Record High Impact Tax for 2018 – $247M”