Pennsylvania

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

New PennEnvironment “Report”: Soak Drillers for More Bond Money
July 17, 2013July 17, 2013

More huffing and puffing from the anti-drilling group PennEnvironment. Yesterday they released a new so-called report called “Who Pays the Costs of Fracking?” (full copy embedded below). PennEnvironment, using paid interns from an anti-fossil fuel think tank called The Frontier Group to write this drivel, attempt to make the case that drillers don’t pay enough bond money up front for future, possible, maybe, someday problems that might arise–potentially. So make ’em pay now, up front.

Of course their chief recommendation–require obscenely high up-front bonds from drillers–is nothing more than a back-door way of making it more expensive to drill, leading to less drilling. But that’s what these types of organizations do–sit around and dream up ways to slow the use of those evil, nasty fossil fuels…
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Energy Companies | Hess | Lease & Royalty Payments | Newfield Exploration | Pennsylvania | Wayne County

DRBC Delay Costs Wayne County Landowners $187.5M, Hess Pulls Out
July 16, 2013July 16, 2013

Thank you Carol Collier (Executive Director) and the other members of Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC): You’ve just cost Wayne County, PA landowners a collective $187.5 million by your continued inaction to allow drilling in Wayne County. Newfield Appalachia PA and Hess Corp. started sending notices last week to Wayne County landowners that they’ve decided to terminate the leases they made with them in 2009–on more than 100,000 acres.

Not wanting to tick off the DRBC and the member states of NY, NJ, PA and DE, the drillers blamed the lease terminations on a change in strategy–they want to drill in oily shale plays. But we know the real reason…
Read More “DRBC Delay Costs Wayne County Landowners $187.5M, Hess Pulls Out”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Landowners with Marcellus Wells: The (Property) Tax Man Cometh
July 16, 2013July 16, 2013

A developing story for Pennsylvania landowners, as reported by WTAE Channel 4 (ABC) Pittsburgh: If you’re a PA landowner with over 10 acres of farmland or woodlands, it’s likely you pay a much lower tax rate on the land because of the “Clean and Green” Act–technically known as the Pennsylvania Farmland and Forest Land Assessment Act of 1974. Clean and Green is meant to keep taxes on farms and other agricultural-types of property lower, based on the land’s value for agriculture, rather than taxed on the land’s prevailing or “full market” value. When the land’s use changes, however, to something like an industrial use (i.e. used for a drill pad), the landowner is responsible for paying higher taxes on the prevailing market value for that portion of land used for that purpose.

If you haven’t been paying a higher tax rate for the portion of your land used for drilling (as we understand it, only the surface portion used–where there’s a drill pad), you may retroactively owe back taxes. It seems that the Clean and Green tax issue for landowners with Marcellus wells on their property is now heating up, and if you’re not paying the higher tax, it’s being spun that you’re “hurting ordinary taxpayers”…
Read More “PA Landowners with Marcellus Wells: The (Property) Tax Man Cometh”
Butler County | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Greene County (PA) | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Upper Devonian Shale | Washington County

New Shale Layer Above the Marcellus Yields Positive Results
July 16, 2013July 16, 2013

What’s this? A new, third layer of shale a few hundred feet above the Marcellus is producing good quantities of shale gas? Yep. And CONSOL Energy reports they’ve successfully tapped it…
Read More “New Shale Layer Above the Marcellus Yields Positive Results”
Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Washington County

Smoke at MarkWest Chartiers, PA Gas Processing Plant
July 16, 2013July 16, 2013

MarkWest operates a large natural gas processing plant in Chartiers Township (Washington County), PA. In the past few years they doubled the size of the plant. Apparently the installation of more new equipment due to go online yesterday didn’t go as planned. Characterizing it as “several events,” automated safety equipment kicked in and burned off (or flared) propane at the plant–resulting in smoke that could be seen for miles.

The (scant) known details of what happened yesterday at the Chariters processing plant:
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Energy Companies | Epsilon Energy | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Shareholder Rebellion at Epsilon Energy – New Board as of Today
July 15, 2013July 15, 2013

Apparently there’s been a shareholder rebellion at Marcellus driller Epsilon Energy. MDN reported a year ago that Epsilon, headquartered in Ontario, Canada, was scaling back its focus on drilling in the Marcellus due to low natural gas prices, and instead concentrating on oil drilling in the Bakken Shale region of North Dakota (see Epsilon Energy 2Q12 Update: Scaling Back in the Marcellus). At that time (perhaps still), the company owned a 35% stake in the Auburn gas gathering system in the PA Marcellus.

The company released the following statement on Friday that virtually the entire board of directors will resign as of today, July 15, and be replaced by a new slate of board members:
Read More “Shareholder Rebellion at Epsilon Energy – New Board as of Today”
Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | NGLs | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

MarkWest: $2.2B in Marcellus/Utica, Bring on the Cracker Plants!
July 15, 2013July 15, 2013

MarkWest Energy, a major Marcellus and Utica midstream company, is investing $2.2 billion in the Marcellus/Utica region in pipelines, processing and fractionation plants. According to MarkWest, they have enough work in the northeast to keep them expanding for the next five years. One of the main services offered by MarkWest is removing ethane from raw natural gas. Their plan is to ship the ethane to either Canada or the Gulf Coast via pipelines. However, they’d love it if the region had “several cracker plants.” Here we go again with more cracker talk!

A good overview of MarkWest’s several billion dollar investment in the northeast, and their belief that the region needs its own cracker plant:
Read More “MarkWest: $2.2B in Marcellus/Utica, Bring on the Cracker Plants!”
Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Landowner Issue: Title Washing & How it May Affect Your Lease
July 15, 2013July 15, 2013

Pennsylvania landowners entering into leases for oil and gas drilling on and under their property need to be aware of an issue exclusive to PA called “title washing.” Lawyer Ronald L. Hicks, Jr. from the firm Meyer, Unkovic & Scott writes about title washing in today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

What is title washing? As Hicks explains, it is a now-dormant practice whereby landowners who owed back taxes on a property would let the property go to a tax sale and then buy it back themselves at a discount because the tax sale would be accepted as a payoff of the old tax debt (pennies on the dollar). This happened mostly from 1900-1950. As part of the “washing” process, title to both the surface and the subsurface was provided free and clear. But recent PA court decisions have said oil and gas rights were not a part of the subsurface “washing”. It’s a tangled, complicated mess. Bottom line, according to Hicks, landowners should have their titles researched before signing a lease–and make sure any tax sales in the history of the lease are examined very closely to see if title washing was involved…
Read More “PA Landowner Issue: Title Washing & How it May Affect Your Lease”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot to Plug Unviable Gas Well in Dimock, PA
July 15, 2013July 15, 2013

Cabot Oil & Gas announced last week that they will plug one of the first Marcellus wells they drilled in Dimock Township (Susquehanna County), PA as soon as the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) concludes an investigation into the gas well and two nearby water wells that may have been contaminated with methane from the Cabot well. The well is “unviable.” Cabot (and the DEP) stress that the investigation into whether or not the well is creating methane migration is not done and in the meantime Cabot is supplying water to one of the two affected homes…
Read More “Cabot to Plug Unviable Gas Well in Dimock, PA”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Lehigh County | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Dems Beat the ‘Ban Shale Drilling’ Drum, Voices Grow Louder
July 12, 2013July 12, 2013

A few weeks ago MDN was one of (perhaps the only) media outlet of any kind to call attention to the insanity of the Democrat party in Pennsylvania in casting a vote at their statewide convention calling for an immediate moratorium on all fracking in the state (see PA Democrat Party Votes to End Marcellus Shale Drilling Statewide). Seems that major media just wants to ignore this story, perhaps thinking no one will notice that the inmates now run the asylum in the PA Democrat party.

However, the crazies will not be silent. A group of Democrat protesters gathered in Allentown yesterday to encourage/cajole/agitate PA Senator Pat Browne (Republican) to support their call for a moratorium on fracking. It was one of 10 such “rallies” held yesterday. Warning to all PA residents: if you elect a Democrat legislature and governor in the next election cycle, you run the very real risk of shutting down the only thing that keeps the PA economy from being 10 times worse than it is: shale drilling. Look for the Dems to become more vociferous against fracking as the election season heats up. This is just the beginning…
Read More “PA Dems Beat the ‘Ban Shale Drilling’ Drum, Voices Grow Louder”
Forced Pooling | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Gov Corbett Signs Back-Door Forced Pooling Bill into Law
July 11, 2013July 11, 2013

It’s sad for us to have to report this, but PA Gov. Tom Corbett has signed a bill into law that’s bad for PA’s landowners. MDN told you about Senate Bill SB259 last week (see New PA Royalty Bill SB259 Faces Opposition from NARO). While the bill has some very good things for landowners in it (more transparency with items deducted from royalty checks), there’s one last minute addition that’s a big problem: There’s language that allows landowners with older leases to be pooled with others, putting them at a disadvantage–they can’t renegotiate their lease for a better deal.

It’s a bad deal for landowners. No matter how much lipstick you put on this pig (see Corbett’s statement below), it’s still a pig…
Read More “PA Gov Corbett Signs Back-Door Forced Pooling Bill into Law”
Bradford County | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Talisman Energy

Rumor: Talisman Shopping Some of its PA Marcellus Acreage
July 11, 2013July 11, 2013

MDN does not usually speculate on rumor, so the following may or may not be true (it’s fourth-hand information). However, we believe it’s important enough for landowners who may be potentially affected, that we’re willing to repeat the rumor–in the interest of giving PA landowners a heads-up…
Read More “Rumor: Talisman Shopping Some of its PA Marcellus Acreage”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

DRBC Feeling the Pressure from PA Over Fracking Rules
July 11, 2013July 11, 2013

According to the Delaware River Basin Commission’s chairperson, Michele Siekerka (from NJ), the DRBC has been a busy little beaver putting “thousands of hours” of work into doing “more work” on proposed new rules to allow fracking in several Pennsylvania counties, including Wayne and Pike. Too bad they don’t have anything to show for it.

As you may recall, PA Gov. Tom Corbett recently sent the DRBC a zinger letter telling the DRBC to defecate or get off the pot (see PA Gov. Lights into DRBC Over Failure to Act on Drilling Rules). On top of that, a landowner group in PA is threatening the DRBC with a lawsuit for “takings” if they don’t move forward–now (see Energy in Depth’s The DRBC Dance Around the Stonewall). Looks like all the pressure is having some effect. At least the DRBC is squirming and issuing banal statements about how hard they’re working…
Read More “DRBC Feeling the Pressure from PA Over Fracking Rules”
Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Oil & Gas Awards – Enter Now
July 11, 2013July 11, 2013

Marcellus Drilling News is pleased to partner with the Oil & Gas Awards to promote their annual, regional events. Specifically, we’re promoting the 2013 Northeast Oil & Gas Awards (entries due by Nov. 29, 2013). However, there are a number of MDN readers from outside the Marcellus/Utica Shale region, so we’re also putting a shout-out to drillers and others in the industry about the Oil & Gas Awards for the Midcontinent, Southwest and West Coast (entries due Aug. 9, 2013).

The full, official announcement below…
Read More “Oil & Gas Awards – Enter Now”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA

Fracking Comes to Amish Country – Will They Allow It?
July 10, 2013July 9, 2013

Contrary to common belief and misconception, the Amish are not bumpkins and naive when it comes to the ways of the “English” world. Far from it. Take the issue of shale drilling on and under the land. While the Amish have a deep and healthy respect for the land, they’re not green zealots who worship it. They know Whom to worship and it’s not trees and grass. The land is here to be used wisely and circumspectly. Many Amish families in Ohio and Pennsylvania are deciding it’s just fine with God if their land is used for fracking…
Read More “Fracking Comes to Amish Country – Will They Allow It?”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

John Hanger Publishes Strong Defense of Fracking, in UK Newspaper
July 9, 2013July 9, 2013

Former Secretary of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection, John Hanger, has an opinion piece published in the online UK Guardian newspaper on Monday, July 8 titled, “If you care about the environment, you should welcome natural gas fracking” (full article below). John has an interesting dilemma. He’s running for the Democrat nomination for governor in PA, for the right to run against someone whom Dems believe is a politically crippled–Gov. Tom Corbett. Corbett has been strongly pro-drilling. John’s opinion piece pretty much reflects his past statements that no energy source is without its negatives, and that natural gas (and fracking) are far better than many of the alternatives. His article is a full-throated defense of fracking. Good for John!

His dilemma, however, is that his party, which stands a good chance of retaking the PA legislature and the governorship, wants to impose a de facto ban on fracking in PA, opposite the position John has taken in his article (see PA Democrat Party Votes to End Marcellus Shale Drilling Statewide). John has refused to call the recent Democrat vote what it patently is: political insanity. Instead, John is attempting a high-wire balancing act made harder by his old boss Gov. Ed Rendell (see Rendell Paints Hanger into Corner on PA Democrat Moratorium Vote).
Read More “John Hanger Publishes Strong Defense of Fracking, in UK Newspaper”