Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Southwestern Energy | Susquehanna County
Briggs v SWN Rule of Capture/Trespass Court Case Resurrected
In January 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in THE most consequential lawsuit for Marcellus Shale drilling we’ve seen, a case called Briggs v Southwestern Energy (see HUGE NEWS: PA Supreme Court Keeps ‘Rule of Capture’ for Fracking). The PA Supremes ruled in favor of Southwestern, retaining the “rule of capture” in the Keystone State. Little did we know, but in 2022, the Briggs filed a new lawsuit, call it “Briggs 2,” along the same lines, alleging that Southwestern’s drilling and fracking on a neighboring property has intruded (“trespassed”) under the property line and drained gas from the Briggs property. Here we go again…
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Only in the dysfunctional Josh Shapiro administration. Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced it had added a Customer Experience Management Advisory Council (CXMAC) to advise the DEP’s Acting Secretary and so-called Chief Customer Experience Officer on strategies and improvements to enhance service delivery to the public. The thing is, none of the board members are actual customers of the DEP! There are no oil and gas members on the board. There are no members of the public on the board. Only well-connected people from private businesses, non-profit organizations, and (worst of the worst) other government agencies landed a spot on the board. Some people actually think PA Gov. Josh Shapiro is presidential material. What a joke!
In July 2022, MDN brought you news of a possible frac-out, or “inadvertent return” that happens when drilling mud pops out of places where it’s not supposed to — places outside the borehole being drilled (see 
Did you know that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is responsible for processing and issuing some 800 different types of permits? Does that not seem a bit excessive? (Is there a permit for applying for a permit?) Being responsible for issuing 800 permits sure sounds like government run amok. Big government. PA State Rep. Jim Struzzi (Republican from Indiana County) announced the introduction of House Resolution 468 last week. The legislation directs the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee (LBFC) to conduct a survey of the PA DEP’s permitting processes.
Well, the bottom dropped out of the rig count last week once again. The national combined oil and gas rig count dropped by six to 594, the lowest it has been since January 2022. The Marcellus/Utica did not go unscathed either, losing two rigs. Pennsylvania lost one rig and now operates 21 rigs. Ohio remained steady with ten active rigs. However, West Virginia lost another rig and now only has five active rigs. One year ago this week, WV operated 13 active rigs. Yuck.
Two weeks ago, 18 new permits were issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica region. Last week, May 27 – June 2, the number increased dramatically by 72% to 31 new permits. Most of the new permits came from two drillers. Range Resources scored the most with 11 new permits spread over two pads in Washington County, PA. EQT received nine new permits for a single pad in Wetzel County, WV. Chesapeake Energy received five new permits, all in Bradford County, PA. In fact, the rest of the new permits were all in PA, which handed out 22 new permits last week — a huge increase over the typical numbers for PA over the past few months.
Cecil Township in Washington County, PA, has seen a fair bit of Marcellus shale drilling over the years. The Board of Supervisors adopted a shale drilling ordinance back in 2011. They are considering an update. Unfortunately, the update they are considering is akin to jumping off a cliff. The town follows state guidelines that new shale wells must be drilled at least 500 feet from homes and 2,500 feet from schools and hospitals. The supervisors are seriously considering an amendment to raise the setback to 2,500 feet (half a mile!) from all structures. In other words, it would ban new drilling in 99% of the town.
Patience is a rare commodity these days. We live in a day and age of instant gratification. Our food is made and delivered in minutes. The latest gizmo we want can be on our doorstep the next day (or, in some cases, the same day) from Amazon and any number of other retailers. Entertainment and distractions are everywhere! Just lift your eyes from your own phone and observe everyone else around you staring at their phones. So perhaps it is no surprise that some people feel lied to because the mighty Shell ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA, hasn’t instantly delivered the promised thousands of extra jobs and dozens of relocated companies.
Every now and again, the liberal Democrat editors of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette publish an unsigned editorial (from the editors) that surprises us. Yesterday was another such instance when Post-Gazette editors said Pennsylvania should leverage frack wastewater to extract lithium, which can be used to make electric vehicle batteries for Joementia’s EV fantasies. The editors cited a study recently published (in April) by the National Energy Technology Laboratory that says Marcellus wastewater in Pennsylvania alone has enough lithium to provide 40% of the country’s needs (see 
NiSource Inc. is one of the largest fully-regulated utility companies in the United States, serving approximately 3.3 million natural gas customers and 500,000 electric customers across six states through its local Columbia Gas and NIPSCO brands. Earlier this year, NiSource hosted representatives from LRQA, a global engineering, technical, and business services organization based in the U.K. (owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation). NiSource hosted the LRQA reps at its Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania service territory. The LRQA reps were there to review safety practices. NiSource and its Columbia Gas of PA subsidiary passed the review with flying colors, resulting in NiSource receiving the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 55001 and American Petroleum Institute’s Recommended Practice (API RP) 1173 certifications.
In April, EQT Corporation and Equinor (formerly known as Statoil) announced a deal to swap land in Pennsylvania and Ohio (see 
Coterra Energy announced a large layoff of employees at its GDS (GasSearch Drilling Services) Marcellus operation yesterday. GDS was founded in 2006 as a subsidiary of Cabot Oil & Gas (now Coterra Energy). GDS is based in South Montrose, PA, and provides services including pad site development, impoundment construction, water hauling, trucking, light equipment rental, and roustabout services supporting Coterra’s natural gas drilling. GDS employs approximately 170 people in Susquehanna County at various locations. Yesterday, 55 GDS employees got a pink slip.
The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has extended three temporary air permits for the Shell ethane cracker plant in Monaca, PA, which would have expired at the end of April. The extended permits will suffice until Shell files for and receives what is called a federal Title V Operating Permit for air emissions from the cracker plant. In March, we told you that the DEP had told Shell to file for a Title V permit no later than June 21 of this year or risk being shut down (see