Red Tsunami that Wasn’t – Repubs May Take House, PA Biggest Loser
We sincerely thought yesterday’s election would have a far better turnout. We’re trying not to despair, but it’s hard. New York State is lost. It’s gone. Overrun with crime and zero prospects for fracking–ever. It’s time to leave NY (we never thought we would say it, but we’re giving up on NY). The Pennsylvania Marcellus industry is now in for four very hard years under Gov. Josh Shapiro. We warned you he would come for the Marcellus. We’ll be here to chronicle it. And John Fetterman? What a disaster. He’s never even held a real job, he can’t speak in complete sentences–and he’s your new U.S. Senator. A full-fledged Communist. PA–you will now get what you deserve. Tough words of tough love.
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A group of so-called environmental organizations that are IRS tax-exempt is really nothing more than a political front for the Democrat Party. We’re talking about PennEnvironment, Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, and the odious National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), three groups that have collectively poured nearly $5 million into advertisements this election cycle supporting the anti-drilling, anti-fracking, anti-Marcellus Josh Shapiro. Why these organizations are still tax-exempt is a mystery to us, as they are completely partisan (Democrat), a violation of the federal tax code.
Pennsylvania House Bill (HB) 1059 is legislation to provide $142 million annually in state tax credits for several purposes, including clean hydrogen hubs, use of natural gas, semiconductor manufacturing, and milk processors. HB 1059 was approved by both the state Senate and House last week and sent along to Gov. Tom Wolf for his signature (see 
In June, MDN told you about this year’s distribution of last year’s (2021) Pennsylvania impact fee revenue (PA’s version of a severance tax) to local municipalities and to the black hole of Harrisburg politicians (see 
Two days ago, we told you that Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Republicans from the state legislature are reportedly working hard on a “massive development package” of tax credits that would, among other things, encourage MORE natural gas development in the Keystone State (see 
Two days ago, Range Resources issued its third quarter 2022 update, and yesterday the company held a conference call for upper management to brief analysts. By all accounts, Range had a great 3Q. Range produced an average of 2.13 billion cubic feet equivalent per day (Bcfe/d), with approximately 70% of it as natural gas and the rest in NGLs. Range only spent $138 million to drill, but cash flow from operations was a staggering $550 million–the highest in company history. The company drilled 7 wells and completed 22 wells during 3Q. Range brought 12 wells online to sales in the southwestern part of PA, and it brought 6 wells online to sales in northeastern PA.
A court case decided in late April in Pennsylvania Superior Court appears (to us) to have significant ramifications for landowners and drillers with respect to deducting post-production expenses. The case is Dressler Family, LP v. PennEnergy Resources, LLC (copy of the decision below), and it addresses “market enhancement” royalty clauses found in many PA leases. Market enhancement clauses typically prohibit the deduction of post-production costs that are incurred when transforming gas into a marketable form. Some drillers ignore such clauses and deduct all “post-production costs” from the landowner’s royalty based on the drillers’ incorrect assumption that gas is “marketable” at the wellhead. This case and decision helped clear up definitions of what is and is not marketable gas.
Although we didn’t watch all of last night’s debate between Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Dr. Mehmet Oz, we’ve read plenty of accounts and have watched some of the clips. Fetterman, by all accounts, was a disaster. We read numerous accounts by both Republicans and Democrats that watching Fetterman self-destruct was “painful.” In particular, Fetterman stumbled and bumbled when rigorously questioned about his flip-flop on the fracking issue. We watched it (segment embedded below), and indeed, it is painful to watch.
Last week we told you about a group of brainwashed children at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), who were behaving like spoiled rotten brats, demanding UPenn divest from any company with a whiff of oil or natural gas about it (see 
According to law firm Houston Harbaugh, P.C., deducting fuel costs from landowner royalties continues to be an ongoing and widespread practice. Some leases allow the use of a portion of the raw gas recovered at a well to “fuel” well-pad operations (processing of the gas). Not only are landowners denied a royalty on the fuel gas volume, they also have that same “cost” deducted from their production royalty! According to Houston Harbaugh, this practice of deducting fuel costs must be closely monitored by all landowners.
Republicans in the Pennsylvania Senate have, since April 2021, refused to appoint new members to the five-member Public Utility Commission (PUC) in response to Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf’s unilateral push to force the state to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax scheme (see 
In September, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that the state senators who represent Pennsylvania landowners living in the Delaware River Basin, primarily in Wayne and Pike counties in the northeastern corner of Pennsylvania, don’t have “standing” to sue the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to overturn its ban on fracking (see