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PA Re-Adds One Rig to 13; National Rig Count Even 2nd Week @ 585
Two weeks ago, Pennsylvania lost another rig, going from 13 rigs down to 12 rigs, the lowest that state has operated in the last 17 years (see PA Drops Another Rig to 17-Year Low; National Rig Count Even @ 585). Last week, PA picked up one rig, so the tally is back to 13. It’s still not great, but we suppose it’s progress. A little over two months ago (as of August 23), PA operated 21 rigs. We went through a period of rapid rig loss in the Keystone State. Last week, Ohio and West Virginia maintained their respective counts of 10 active rigs each. Read More “PA Re-Adds One Rig to 13; National Rig Count Even 2nd Week @ 585”
As part of its third quarter update, EQT Corporation, now the second-largest natural gas producer in the U.S., dropped the bombshell that it has completely divested from the remaining non-operated wells it owns in northeastern Pennsylvania, selling the assets to Norwegian company Equinor (formerly known as Statoil) for $1.25 billion. You may recall in April, EQT did a deal with Equinor to swap land in Pennsylvania and Ohio, plus receiving $500 million from Equinor to sweeten the pot (see 
Permitting in Pennsylvania overseen by the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has been a hot mess for years. A Chapter 102 Erosion and Sedimentation permit sometimes takes two, three, or even six months for approval — instead of the law-mandated 14 days. It got so bad that in the fall of 2019, PA State Sen. Gene Yaw introduced a bill to allow third-party reviews of these permits to speed up approvals (see 
Ever notice how politicians like to blame others when their own policies create havoc and chaos? When you block new gas-fired power plants that provide more electricity for growing demand and pretend unreliable renewables will step in to save the day, there are negative consequences, like the price of electricity soaring through the roof (see 
The realignment 
Yesterday, the radicalized Clean Air Council and Environmental Integrity Project filed a rulemaking petition with the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board (EQB) asking the EQB to increase minimum setback distances from fracked wells. Setbacks, also referred to as protective buffers and no-drill zones in the context of fracking, are mandatory distances that fracked wells must abide by to keep them away from homes, schools, hospitals, drinking water wells, and surface water. PA already has a safe and sufficient setback of 500 feet. The groups want that increased by 650% to 3,281 feet. It would ban approximately 95% of all new shale wells in the state. 
The environmental left continues to try and co-opt the term “Evangelical Christian,” defined as protestants who tend to be pro-life and conservative in their political views. We’re talking about the so-called Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN) and its political lobbying arm, EEN Action. The group continues to pressure Pennsylvania’s political leaders to adopt unreliable renewable energy (by government fiat) and to force residents to dump their use of fossil energy. We previously exposed them for who they really are (see 
In November 2022, PA’s then-Governor, Tom Wolf, signed into law a bill providing $142 million annually in state tax credits for several purposes, including clean hydrogen hubs, natural gas use, semiconductor manufacturing, and milk processors (see 
An assistant professor of data science at Saint Vincent College in Westmoreland County, PA, recently published a study (based on hospital records) examining whether some chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing affect the occurrence of pre-term births (PTB) and low birth weights (LBW) in the United States. She looked at data from several counties in southwest PA. The researcher says she found that “counties that had more hydraulic fracturing wells that utilize chemicals that target certain hormones also had greater amounts of PTB and LWB.” Yet her data shows just the opposite! 
PJM Interconnection is the largest U.S. power grid operator, serving 65 million people in 13 states plus the District of Columbia (including PA, OH, and WV). PJM supplies power to more than 20% of the U.S. economy. The organization issued its annual Winter Outlook yesterday. The analysis says PJM and its members have adequate resources to serve the forecasted demand for electricity this winter under expected conditions, although reserve margins continue to shrink with continued generator (coal plant) retirements and increasing demand. However, if we have “extreme” weather events, problems like blackouts are possible. In other words, we will have enough electricity, but cross your fingers that we don’t experience any extreme weather. 
If you live in Pennsylvania, particularly in an urban area, and happen to be black, Asian, or Native American, and you own an Apple product and like to do things outdoors, you can expect a knock on your door by the Democrat anti-shale/global warming squad hoping to recruit you to become a Kamala Harris zombie voter. The younger or older you are, the better (especially under 25 and over 65). The Dems never see people in all of their complexity as individuals who can be reasoned with rationally—they only see groups that can be herded given the right fear-tactic stimuli, like schoolyard bullies from the fourth grade. That’s how they hold on to power. 
You know you’re a loser when you can’t even spin the results of your own rigged push poll. The Ohio River Valley Institute (ORVI) is nothing more than a front group, another name for the ultra-left, biased, and virulent anti-fossil fuel Heinz Endowments. ORVI pokes its head up periodically to issue “reports” (i.e., propaganda) bashing fossil energy. Sometimes, they conduct slanted push polls to try and further pollute the news with false claims, as was the case with a recent poll (with results released yesterday) by ORVI surveying 700 Pennsylvanian voters on the topic of fracking and energy. Interestingly, the ORVI couldn’t hide the fact that 58% of those surveyed (a strong majority) are opposed to banning fracking, and 75% support the continued use of natural gas.