Philly LNG Project Owner Met with White House Officials This Week
We have some important new information regarding the proposed Penn LNG export facility in the Philadelphia area. In early 2024, we reported that Penn America Energy CEO Franc James, the builder of the project, said that he “pumped the brakes” on the LNG project but that it wasn’t dead yet (see Penn LNG CEO Says Philly Export Project on Hold, “Not Dead Yet”). Reuters is reporting that James met with White House officials (at the White House) on Tuesday of this week to discuss the project. We also learn from the Reuters report that James is actively considering other locations, given the resistance by left-wing Democrats in the originally proposed location. Read More “Philly LNG Project Owner Met with White House Officials This Week”
Two days ago, the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) released its latest quarterly Natural Gas Production Report for January through March 2025 (full copy below). There were 93 new horizontal wells spud (drilled) in 1Q25, a decrease of 7 wells (-7%) compared to 1Q24. However, 1Q’s spud number increased by 9 (11%) from the 84 drilled in the prior quarter, 4Q24. Natural gas production volume was 1,941 billion cubic feet (Bcf) in 1Q25, up 56 Bcf (3%) from 1,885 Bcf produced in 1Q24, and up 72 Bcf (4%) from the 1,869 Bcf produced in 4Q24. The big news revolved around price. The average Pennsylvania spot hub price was $3.69, an increase of $2.00 (117.5%) from the prior year. 
The propagandists at the partisan Inside Climate News are doing their best to plant the false notion that drill cuttings and frack wastewater coming from shale wells are “radioactive.” Their latest effort in this regard is to defeat the reopening of a landfill in Mercer County, PA. The Grove City landfill would accept drill cuttings (among other landfillable waste). The antis, who oppose all fossil energy based on mythical global warming concerns, label drill cuttings as “radioactive waste.” It’s nonsense. Drill cuttings are leftover rock and dirt from the ground. 
During a webinar in April, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced it would use a new state General Air Quality Permit to implement Biden-era federal oil and gas facility methane reduction requirements (see 
On June 2, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) latest Environmental Justice newsletter announced that the PennEnviroScreen tool is now “fully integrated within the DEP permitting and programmatic review processes.” The tool draws maps to identify areas of “greater environmental justice (EJ) exposures” and potential effects by analyzing “environmental, health, and socioeconomic burdens across the Commonwealth.” It’s like a video game that shows users pretend areas where there are more minorities and poor people on the theory that they’re too stupid or poor to hire lawyers to resist new infrastructure, like gas wells, compressor stations, or pipelines. 
Corporate welfare—the transfer (theft) of money from taxpayers to uber-wealthy corporations, like Kraft Heinz, is particularly loathsome and disgusting. However, it’s widespread, unfortunately. In an effort to undermine fossil energy, the Biden administration shoveled money out the door to corporate cronies so fast nobody could keep track of it all. Biden’s “free money” included a $170 million grant to Kraft Heinz, which would have helped the food manufacturer install heat pumps, solar, biogas, and other loser “renewable” energy solutions at 10 of its facilities in New York, Virginia, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, and Illinois. Kraft Heinz received $5.9 million of the promised funding in December. It won’t see another dime. 
Alice, get ready to go down the rabbit hole into litigation Wonderland. This post is about a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision issued on May 30, 2025. In the case Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Game Commission v. Thomas E. Proctor Heirs Trust, the PA Supremes addressed a question from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals regarding whether a 1908 tax sale of an “unseated” (undeveloped) parcel of land, the Haines Warrant, constituted a “title wash” that divested the subsurface estate owners of their ownership interest. We think the case has broader implications for landowners and drillers with respect to who owns mineral rights that have been separated from surface rights. 
On May 20, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued notices of violations to XTO Energy, Inc. (a subsidiary of ExxonMobil) for failing to restore five multi-million gallon shale gas freshwater impoundments it used to support fracking operations in Butler County. The impoundments are required to be restored, which includes liners removed and the area regraded to the original contours, within nine months of their last use. 
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is a typical liberal Democrat politician. He pretends to be moderate and a supporter of the Marcellus industry in the Keystone State. He is neither. Shapiro claims his proposed energy programs will cut costs for Pennsylvanians. The reverse is true. But we’re not just making blanket, unprovable assertions or opinions about Shapiro’s energy plans. A new study from the Commonwealth Foundation estimates that Shapiro’s energy policies, 
Last week, for the fifth week in a row, the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count dropped, down another three rigs to its lowest level since November 2021. There were changes among the Marcellus/Utica states, too. The combined M-U count dropped by one to 36 active rigs. The Pennsylvania Marcellus gained one rig, now at 18 rigs. The Ohio Utica dropped one of the two rigs it picked up two weeks ago and now stands at 11 rigs. West Virginia also dropped a rig and now runs only seven rigs. 
The highly functional and responsible Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), unlike its less functional and irresponsible counterpart, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), continues to support the shale energy industry by approving water withdrawals and consumptive use for responsible and safe shale drilling. The SRBC published a notice in the May 31 Pennsylvania Bulletin that the Executive Director of the SRBC renewed 45 general water use permits in April for individual shale gas well drilling pads in Blair, Bradford, Lycoming, Potter, Sullivan, Susquehanna, and Tioga counties in Pennsylvania. The director also approved new water withdrawals for the 146-megawatt gas-fired Hunlock Creek power plant in Luzerne County. 
For the week of May 19 – 25, the number of permits issued to drill new wells in the Marcellus/Utica was down seven from the previous week. Last week, 24 new permits were issued in the M-U. In the Keystone State (PA), just four new permits were issued, all of them going to Expand Energy (Chesapeake) for a pad in Sullivan County. The Buckeye State (OH) received 13 new permits, with most (five) going to Encino Energy (EAP) in Columbiana County. EOG Resources received four permits for Carroll County, and Gulfport Energy received four permits for Belmont County. The Mountain State (WV) scored seven new permits. Six of the seven went to Antero Resources for a single pad in Tyler County. One permit was issued to Marion Natural Energy in Marion County. 
Electricity bills across Pennsylvania (and elsewhere in the PJM grid) are due to increase on June 1, when utilities reset a portion of their charges to reflect the current cost of energy. The increases reflect the rising cost of power on the regional transmission grid. Electric grids are complex to understand, but at their core, the grid manager (in this case, PJM) coordinates the flow of electricity within the grid and operates a wholesale power market where utilities purchase the electricity they deliver to their customers. Wholesale electric prices have spiked, and now utilities need to pass along those costs to ratepayers (don’t be mad at the local utility). The question is, why have wholesale electric prices spiked? Is someone (is PJM) at fault?