PennState Estimates Methane Emissions for Closed Shale Wells
A team led by Penn State researchers has developed a new tool that can estimate the emissions potential of shale wells after they are no longer active. The researchers claim drillers can analyze their own drill cuttings (samples of shale rock) to determine how much potential there is for methane leakage after a well is abandoned. Which is interesting and perhaps even useful information for Marcellus/Utica drillers. However, a tangential factoid in the news story is what caught our interest and got our mental wheels churning. The factoid is this…
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Last week, the Baker Hughes rig count regained a couple of rigs; for the first time in five weeks, the count has gone up instead of down. The count went from 617 active rigs two weeks ago up to 619 last week. Since last October, the national count has gone as low as 616 and as high as 629. And that’s it. No higher and no lower. The Marcellus/Utica lost one rig last week and now runs 41 rigs. Pennsylvania remained constant with 22 rigs; Ohio lost a rig and now operates 11 rigs; and West Virginia remained the same with 8 rigs.
LS Power, headquartered in New York City, has developed or acquired 47,000 megawatts (MW) of power generation, including utility-scale solar, wind, hydro, battery energy storage, and natural gas-fired facilities. We’ve previously mentioned LS Power in a number of MDN articles (
In October 2019, Eureka Resources, which operates three frack wastewater treatment facilities in the Marcellus Shale (and is building a fourth facility in Dimock, PA), began extracting lithium from Marcellus wastewater at one of its plants in Bradford County, PA (see 
Although we support Donald Trump for President in 2024, this site is not and will not become a campaign site for Trump and the Republicans. We will, however, bring you news of Trump (and Biden) announcements with respect to energy and policies that impact the Marcellus/Utica in particular, and oil and gas in general. Trump was at a rally in Schnecksville (Lehigh County), PA, on Saturday. Trump said at the rally that on “day one” of a second term (if he wins), Joe Biden’s “insane electric vehicle mandate” and his “natural gas export ban” will be gone. Trump said Biden is currently waging war on PA energy. We agree.
Last November, CNX Resources CEO Nick DeIuliis signed a voluntary deal with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro to expand drilling setbacks and several other regulatory steps not mandated for shale drillers under PA law (see 
With the rapid increase in carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects around the country, including right here in the Marcellus/Utica region, a key issue has arisen. Where does one store (sequester) all that carbon dioxide (CO2)? The answer is underground in a Class VI injection well. Class VI wells are a relatively new classification for injection wells, created by the federal EPA in 2010. Earlier this week, the Pennsylvania State Senate took the first step in establishing a framework that allows for the underground storage of CO2 in the Keystone State.
On May 2, 2023, some four months after Josh Shapiro was installed as Pennsylvania’s 48th governor, we said this about him: “Since taking office, Shapiro has been a major dud–someone who doesn’t know how to lead. He’s bereft of any idea of what to do and how to do it. When it comes to the environment and energy policy, Shapiro assembled a secretive group to guide him” (see 
Yesterday, the Pennsylvania House Republican Policy Committee held a hearing called “Fueling Pa’s Future: Liquid Natural Gas.” In January, Joe Biden announced he would “pause” any approvals for new LNG export plants (currently 17 requests in the pipeline) for at least one year while his people fart around pretending to figure out how to measure global warming as a new consideration for whether or not to approve projects (see 
In reviewing the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) Oil and Gas Workload Report for the week ending March 29, David Hess from the PA Environment Digest Blog discovered there is currently only one new shale permit under review for approval by the department. That is really low. Hess also discovered so far this year PA has received just 95 applications for new shale permits. At that rate, the state will only issue around 380 new permits in 2024 — the lowest since the modern shale era began.
This year’s presidential election may well turn on the results in the “swing state” of Pennsylvania. The Wall Street Journal has an intriguing story that looks at PA voters, who they support for president, and why. In the article ‘Now They’re Voting Red’: A Pennsylvania Fracking Boom Weighs on Biden’s Re-Election Chances, the WSJ says a slim majority of voters give Donald Trump a 3-point lead over Joementia if the election were held today. (How ANYONE could vote for Biden is a complete mystery to us.) “Economic churn” and Biden’s actions like his infamous LNG pause are pushing voters toward Trump in the Pittsburgh area, potentially overwhelming the Democrats’ base of college-educated workers. Could it be that pro-frackers in PA will hand the White House back to DJT?
Last week, MDN reported on new (to us) information shared at a Pennsylvania House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee hearing that the state’s program to plug orphaned and abandoned oil and gas wells is, quite frankly, a hot mess (see