Pennsylvania

Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

Syracuse U Prof to Defend Methane Migration Research (Sun. Night)
June 25, 2015June 25, 2015

The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) and JLC United will air another live session of the Good News Table Talk Radio Show this Sunday, June 28 from 7-8 pm on WNBF Radio 1290 in Binghamton (listen online at: www.wnbf.com). Bob Williams, JLCNY Vice President and an environmental consultant with over 40 years experience, along with JLCNY board member Rob Rano, will interview and chat with acclaimed Syracuse University Earth Science professor, Dr. Donald I. Siegel. Dr. Siegel is the lead author of a Syracuse University study published earlier this year that found, after evaluating data from over 11,000 well water tests (34,000 samples) in Pennsylvania, that a water well’s proximity to fracking operations has no bearing on whether or not methane is found in that water well. In other words, fracking does not cause methane migration into water wells (see Syracuse U Study: Fracking Doesn’t Cause Methane in PA Water Wells). Radicalized environmentalists brook no dissent from their religious-like claims that fracking is the ultimate evil, so they immediately launched a smear campaign and personal attack against Dr. Siegel (see Syracuse Prof Targeted in Effort to Discredit Drilling Research). Tune in Sunday night to learn the truth–about water quality, methane migration, fracking fluids, and (yes) even about Dimock, PA…
Read More “Syracuse U Prof to Defend Methane Migration Research (Sun. Night)”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Republicans Say No Severance Tax in Budget Heading to Gov. Wolf
June 25, 2015June 25, 2015

Good news for Pennsylvanians. The PA legislature is moving forward with passing a budget bill that does not include a Marcellus-killing severance tax. The Gov. Tom Wolf administration has been obstinate and unyielding in their demand for a 17.3% severance tax (often mischaracterized by Wolf and the media as a “5%” severance tax). The Republicans in both the House and Senate have (amazingly) held firm in their position of no new severance tax since Marcellus drillers already pay an impact fee (i.e., a tax) equivalent to a 3.2% severance tax now. Wolf’s claim that his tax is 5% is a flat out, 100% lie. He bases the tax on the assumption that drillers will get $2.97 per thousand cubic feet when selling natural gas. In many places (especially the northeastern part of the state) drillers are getting less than half of that. The difference between what drillers actually get and what Wolf pretends they get, plus the “little extra” 4.7 cents per Mcf added to the “5%” tax, pushes the effective rate, according to the PA Independent Fiscal Office, to 17.3% (see PA Official Admits Wolf Severance Tax Highest in Nation @ 17.3%). Wolf’s chief budget negotiator, John Hanger, has stooped to a new low, even for him, by saying Republicans have put drillers ahead of PA’s school children. Hanger presumes the money EARNED by companies that risk their own capital somehow belongs to life’s TAKERS–teachers’ unions. The question now is, will Wolf sign the Republican budget that is about to land on his desk without the big increase in “education funding” he demands because he promised it to union members who voted him into office (i.e., political payola)…
Read More “PA Republicans Say No Severance Tax in Budget Heading to Gov. Wolf”
Energy Companies | Greene County (PA) | Pennsylvania | Rice Energy | Utica Shale

Rice Energy Exec: 90% of Utica Gas Will Come from 3-4 Counties
June 25, 2015June 25, 2015

An update on what Rice Energy is up to, from none other than Rice’s vice president in charge of exploration, Derek Rice. Derek said at yesterday’s Hart Energy DUG East conference in Pittsburgh that his company is, this week, finishing up work on a Utica Shale well in Greene County, PA. Derek admitted there’s differing opinions within the company about whether or not they should be drilling Utica wells in PA. He says the rock is great, they’re convinced of that. The “problem” is that it costs a heck of a lot more to drill a deep Utica well than it does a Marcellus well. If Rice can squeeze more costs out of drilling a Utica well, it will be profitable. He also said something very interesting about the geography of the Utica–that he believes 90% of the gas that will come out of the Utica play will come from just three or four counties…
Read More “Rice Energy Exec: 90% of Utica Gas Will Come from 3-4 Counties”
Allegheny County | CNX Resources | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Utica Shale

CONSOL Energy May Add More Utica Wells to Pitt. Airport Project
June 25, 2015June 26, 2015

Correction: The information MDN used for this post was derived from an inaccurate news account that misstated CONSOL received a permit to drill one Utica well at the Pittsburgh Airport. That was factually incorrect. CONSOL has received no permits for a Utica well–only permits for Marcellus and Upper Devonian wells. If they pursue drilling Utica wells at the airport, they will likely need a new environmental impact study done first. Our thanks to CONSOL for contacting us to clarify.

From the “Hmmm, that’s interesting” department: Speaking at yesterday’s Hart Energy DUG East conference in Pittsburgh, CONSOL Energy vice president Craig Neal said the company is considering requesting a change in its drilling plan at the Pittsburgh International Airport. CONSOL, as you may recall, is in the midst of a multi-year program to drill 45 Marcellus Shale wells and a handful of ~~Utica and~~ Upper Devonian wells at the Pittsburgh Airport (see Sky is the Limit: CONSOL Begins Drilling at Pittsburgh Airport). The permits and plan call for ~~a single~~ no Utica Shale wells, but yesterday Neal said the company is mulling over the possibility of swapping out some of the Upper Devonian wells they had planned to drill on some pads with deeper Utica wells instead…
Read More “CONSOL Energy May Add More Utica Wells to Pitt. Airport Project”
Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

New Bill HB 1391 Will Guarantee PA Landowners 12.5% Royalties
June 25, 2015June 25, 2015

Last week MDN told you that a new royalty bill would be introduced in the Pennsylvania legislature to guarantee landowners get a minimum 12.5% royalty (see New Bill Pushes 12.5% Guaranteed Minimum Royalty for PA Landowners). The new bill, House Bill (HB) 1391 is, according to the bill’s main sponsor State Rep. Garth Everett, more narrowly focused than the previous bill introduced in 2013 (HB 1684). Gareth and a group of supporters from the PA chapter of the National Association of Royalty Owners gathered in the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg on Tuesday in a bill launch rally. We don’t (yet) have the language of the new bill, but we do have Everett’s description of what’s in the bill, a brief video interview of Everett from Tuesday’s launch rally, and a newspaper write-up from the event…
Read More “New Bill HB 1391 Will Guarantee PA Landowners 12.5% Royalties”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

The Landman Cometh – Sunoco Seeks Easements for Mariner East 2
June 24, 2015June 24, 2015

Landmen for Sunoco Logistics have begun knocking on doors and talking to residents in nine municipalities in Chester County and six in Delaware County (Philadelphia area) to sign easements to allow the Mariner East 2 pipeline to be built through their property. Sunoco wants to begin construction in early 2016. Meetings have cropped up for landowners to hear information about the project, and get information about what their rights are and what terms they should seek before signing an easement. What is Sunoco offering in the way of compensation? It varies from landowner to landowner, depending on where the land is located and how much land they must cross. We do know how much the company offered one resident, in Uwchlan Township (Chester County)…
Read More “The Landman Cometh – Sunoco Seeks Easements for Mariner East 2”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Dauphin County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

Dueling Rallies in Harrisburg, PA Over Severance Tax Turn Nasty
June 24, 2015June 24, 2015

An interesting contrast in rallies yesterday in Harrisburg, PA. As the July 1 deadline quickly approaches for Pennsylvania to approve a budget, there were two rallies at the state Capitol. The first was held by life’s producers–the people who actually create wealth in this country. It was populated by business leaders and those who work for businesses that support the Marcellus Shale industry. They were there to protest against PA Gov. Wolf’s 17.3% severance tax (often mischaracterized by Wolf and a sycophantic press as a “5% tax” on Marcellus gas). Businesses know that such a tax will effectively kill the industry and the jobs and economic impact that go with it, in the Keystone State. Then there was a second rally that followed the business/anti-tax rally. The second rally was held by the life’s takers–those who suck money from the producers. That is, teachers’ unions and their flacks who bleat and blat that stealing money from businesses “is for the children”–to justify their voracious appetite for other people’s money. The second group was there to protest in favor of a money-sucking, Marcellus-killing severance tax. Guess which crowd behaved like adults, and which crowd behaved like ill-tempered and undisciplined children, shouting down the other rally? No, you don’t really have to guess, do you?…
Read More “Dueling Rallies in Harrisburg, PA Over Severance Tax Turn Nasty”
Air Quality | Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Regulation | Shell | Statewide PA

Shell Receives Air Quality Permit from PA DEP for Cracker Plant
June 23, 2015June 23, 2015

Finally, after months and months of waiting, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has granted an air quality permit that allows Shell to operate a proposed ethane cracker plant in Monaca (Beaver County), PA. MDN told you the DEP signaled they would approve the air quality permit back in March (see PA DEP Signals Approval for Shell Ethane Cracker Air Quality Plan). Three months later the DEP finally issued the permit–no small miracle given the agency is now run by PennFuture DEP Sec. John Quigley. Shell had stated getting the permit would be a “critical” step in the process to moving forward. Now that they have the permit, what kinds of encouraging words do we have from Shell? The permit “does not mean we have made a final decision to build the project.” Which is the same standard line they’ve delivered since 2011 when this whole process began (see Shell Commits to Building a Billion Dollar Chemical Plant in the Marcellus Region of U.S.). Four years of being teased with this project has led us to think we’ve contracted post traumatic cracker disorder (PTCD)…
Read More “Shell Receives Air Quality Permit from PA DEP for Cracker Plant”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

More on PIOGA Request to Keep DEP in its Regulatory Box
June 23, 2015June 23, 2015

Yesterday MDN brought you the story of the Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association’s (PIOGA) third request to intervene in the Act 13 lawsuit decided by the PA Supreme Court (see PIOGA Asks Supreme Court to Stop DEP Denying Permits Using Act 13). The point of PIOGA’s request is to make the DEP follow PA law when it comes to granting shale drilling permits. Our headline and some of the language we used in that article was not completely accurate–we’d like to admit that right up front (although our inaccuracy was not intentional). The headline states that the DEP has denied permits based on portions of the Act 13 lawsuit tossed out by the PA Supreme Court. In researching the issue and speaking with those knowledgeable about PIOGA’s request to the Supreme Court, we’ve not found a specific instance where the DEP has denied a permit based on the tossed out Section 3215(b)-(e). But while denying permits based on rejected portions of Act 13 is not taking place, something far more subtle and insidious IS going on–with the same result as if the DEP were denying permits based on tossed-out portions of Act 13. Let us explain…
Read More “More on PIOGA Request to Keep DEP in its Regulatory Box”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PIOGA Asks Supreme Court to Stop DEP Denying Permits Using Act 13
June 22, 2015June 23, 2015

Please see this MDN follow-up story for an important clarification/update: More on PIOGA Request to Keep DEP in its Regulatory Box

This story is why you pay MDN the “big bucks”–to break down complex issues into an easy-to-understand report. Last Friday the Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association (PIOGA) filed paperwork with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court asking for permission to, once again, intervene in the Act 13 lawsuit brought by seven selfish PA townships that resulted in portions of the Act 13 oil and gas drilling law to be struck down. Twice before PIOGA, which represents the companies directly affected by the Act 13 law, has filed to intervene and both times it was (incredibly) prevented from doing so. Apparently the people most affected by a lawsuit don’t have “standing” to defend themselves in PA courts–such is their system of “justice.” At any rate, PIOGA’s third attempt may succeed where the first two attempts failed, and that has the anti-drilling selfish towns, along with the Wolf administration, nervous. Why might PIOGA succeed this time? That’s where it gets complicated. In a nutshell, the zoning portions of the Act 13 law (Section 3304) were not the only sections to be struck down by the PA Supremes…
Read More “PIOGA Asks Supreme Court to Stop DEP Denying Permits Using Act 13”
Beaver County | Belmont County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Are OH Officials Worried about Shell’s PA Ethane Cracker? Nope
June 22, 2015June 22, 2015

In April Ohio officials announced Belmont County, OH has been chosen as the site of a potential ethane cracker plant (see It’s Official: Belmont County Chosen as POSSIBLE Cracker Plant Site). Which led us to admit that since we’ve been teased with a cracker for over three years now–with NO ONE actually committing to such a plant–we’re experiencing “cracker fatigue.” But not long after Shell made some serious moves toward committing to build a cracker plant in western Pennsylvania, not far from Pittsburgh. The most recent positive sign is that Shell finally, after three years of faffing about, earlier this month purchased the property the plant would be built on (see Shell Buys Beaver County, PA Property for Future Cracker Plant). Does a Shell cracker reduce the likelihood of an cracker plant being built less than two hours away in Belmont County, OH? Not according to officials in Ohio. In fact, they’re not worried at all…
Read More “Are OH Officials Worried about Shell’s PA Ethane Cracker? Nope”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Taxation

Philly Area Dem State Senator Introduces Plan to Tax Pipelines
June 19, 2015June 19, 2015

State Senator Andy Dinniman, Democrat from Chester (Delaware County), PA, has just introduced a new bill in the PA Senate that would require natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) pipelines to pay local and school property taxes in the Keystone State. His rationale is that pipelines should be required to help the communities that they affect (by traversing) in the same way the impact fee helps communities where drilling takes place. Good idea, or bad?…
Read More “Philly Area Dem State Senator Introduces Plan to Tax Pipelines”
Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

How the Wolf Administration is Cooking the Marcellus Jobs Numbers
June 19, 2015June 19, 2015

Wow, did MDN peg it right or what? Yesterday we told you that Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration/gang had politically, arbitrarily, rejiggered the Marcellus Shale industry employment numbers, dumping 151,000 jobs credited to the industry, in an attempt to smear the “brand” of the Marcellus as a jobs creator in the minds of Pennsylvanians (see Gov Wolf & Co Wipes Away 151K PA Jobs by Changing Formula). Our view was confirmed by a former Corbett administration official who exposes this numbers change-up for what it is: 100% political and 100% the work of the Wolf administration. Writing in the Harrisburg Patriot-News, Dennis Roddy calls out the Dept. of Labor and Industry for bowing to political pressure from the Wolf gang and arbitrarily changing the formula used to track direct, indirect and induced jobs from the Marcellus–a jobs formula accepted by economists across the country and a formula the Dept. of Labor and Industry themselves devised–not one devised by the Corbett administration…
Read More “How the Wolf Administration is Cooking the Marcellus Jobs Numbers”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Sec Quigley Creating His Own FracFocus; SRBC in Crosshairs
June 19, 2015June 19, 2015

More antagonism for the oil and gas industry, and more radical environmentalist philosophy, from the new PennFuture Secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection in Pennsylvania, John Quigley. (Once again, you have these Republicans to “thank” for his appointment: List of Republican Senators Who Voted to Confirm Quigley @ DEP). Last night Quigley announced at a radical enviro dinner in Philadelphia, hosted by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, that although under the Act 13 law all Marcellus drillers must file a list of the chemicals used at each well site with the national registry FracFocus.org, that’s not good enough for Quigley. The Act 13 law also requires drillers to file the info with the PA DEP, so Quigley has decided the DEP will create it’s own online database/website to show the information (wasting taxpayer’s money). It’s all about being more “transparent” according to Quigley. We’d say it’s all about being a control freak, but we digress. Quigley also reiterated his absolute faith in the man-made global warming fairy tale, and he has ominously set his sites on the SRBC in northeastern PA…
Read More “PA DEP Sec Quigley Creating His Own FracFocus; SRBC in Crosshairs”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation

Range Fires Back: Proof We Didn’t Cause PA Methane Migration
June 18, 2015June 18, 2015

Yesterday MDN told you about the new, negative tone being set at the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection by its new leader, Sec. John Quigley, by fining Range Resources for a case of methane migration (see PA DEP Slaps Range with Record $8.9M Fine for Methane Migration). Perhaps Quigley has adopted EPA Region 6 administrator Al Armendariz’s philosophy of making an example of one or two companies (see EPA Region 6 Administrator: Crucify Energy Companies). Quigley says Range did a sloppy cement job on a gas well they drilled in 2011 and has refused to correct the situation. Range immediately fired back, very loud and very clear, that water wells in that area had high levels of methane in them BEFORE any drilling took place–and Range has the documented pre-drilling tests to prove it…
Read More “Range Fires Back: Proof We Didn’t Cause PA Methane Migration”
Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Gov Wolf & Co Wipes Away 151K PA Jobs by Changing Formula
June 18, 2015June 18, 2015

Poof! Some 151,000 jobs that had been created by the Marcellus Shale industry, according to Pennsylvania officials, disappeared overnight. PA Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration (Republican), voted out of office last November, used to say (based on numbers from the PA Dept. of Labor and Industry) that the Marcellus Shale industry is responsible for creating 240,000 jobs in the state (see Hundreds of Thousands of Marcellus Drilling Jobs in PA). That number includes people in other industries that serve the Marcellus industry. PA Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration (Democrat) now comes along to say that number is bunkum. Wolf and his minions want to lower the public’s perception that the Mighty Marcellus is a jobs-creating engine like nothing ever seen in the state–so they’ve just arbitrarily wiped off 151,000 of those jobs by saying the way the number was originally calculated was wrong. They say the “real” number is more like 89,000. Welcome to Wonderland where you have your truth and I have my truth and the only casualty is THE truth…
Read More “Gov Wolf & Co Wipes Away 151K PA Jobs by Changing Formula”