| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

24 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jan 3-9

Last week 24 permits were issued to drill new shale wells in the Marcellus/Utica. Pennsylvania had the lion’s share with 19 new permits–most of those (10) were issued for two Chesapeake Energy well pads in Bradford County in the northeastern part of the state. Ohio had just two new permits, both on the same Southwestern Energy well pad in Monroe County. West Virginia had three new permits, one in Pleasants County and two in Marshall County.
Continue reading

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

29 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Nov 29-Dec 5

There was a healthy number of new permits issued in all three actively drilling Marcellus/Utica states last week. In Pennsylvania, 14 new shale well permits were issued across the state. In Ohio, five new shale permits were issued, four of them to a single driller (Ascent Resources) in a single county (Jefferson). West Virginia came roaring back after getting skunked with no permits two weeks ago. WV issued 10 new shale permits last week with five going to a single well pad in Monongalia County.
Continue reading

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Oct 11-17

Last week Pennsylvania issued 14 permits to drill new shale wells scattered around the state. The permits were issued to Chesapeake Energy, EQT, EXCO Resources, Chief Oil & Gas, and Southwestern Energy. Ohio issued five new permits in two counties, but all of them were issued to Ascent Resources. West Virginia issued just one new permit in a county we don’t often see in the list: Marion. The single WV permit was issued to EQT.
Continue reading

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Sep 6-12

Last week Pennsylvania issued 18 permits for new shale well drilling scattered across the state. Ohio (for the eighth week in a row) did not issue any new shale permits. Are we missing something with Ohio? Are they late in updating their online database? West Virginia issued 2 permits for new shale well drilling last week.
Continue reading

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Aug 23-29

Last week both Pennsylvania and West Virginia issued permits to drill new shale wells. Ohio remained skunked for a sixth week in a row. What’s going on in Ohio? Or rather, what isn’t going on there? PA issued 15 new shale permits. Not to be outdone, WV also issued 15 new shale permits.
Continue reading

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Aug 16-22

Last week both Pennsylvania and West Virginia issued permits to drill new shale wells. Ohio remained skunked for a fifth week in a row. PA issued 18 new shale permits, mainly in the western part of the state (a few in the northeast). WV issued 7 new shale permits, all of them for the same pad being drilled by EQT in Wetzel County. This is the second week in a row EQT scored all of WV’s new permits, and the second week in a row they were all in Wetzel County.
Continue reading

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Jun 14-20

Two of three Marcellus/Utica states received permits to drill new shale wells last week, and boy did they open the floodgates! Pennsylvania issued 30 new permits, the majority of which are located on three well pads operated by EQT, Chesapeake Energy, and Range Resources. Ohio issued no new permits. After getting skunked for two weeks in a row, West Virginia issued 16 new permits–to just two drillers: Antero Resources and EQT. All of the WV permits were issued in the same county.
Continue reading

| | | | | |

Chesapeake Energy Puts Most of its Chips on Northeast PA Marcellus

When Chesapeake Energy issued its first-quarter update a month ago, MDN pointed out that the company has finally turned from its dalliance with oil drilling (having fired CEO Doug Lawler) and is now training its sights back on its first love, natural gas drilling (see Chesapeake 1Q21: Returning to Its Roots of Drilling for NatGas). Northeastern Pennsylvania plays a key role in the company’s plans for the future. In 2021, some 45% of Chessy’s production will come from four northeastern PA counties: Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna, and Wyoming.
Continue reading

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: May 10-16

All three M-U states received permits to drill new shale wells last week. Pennsylvania received a sizable 14 new permits (after receiving 18 permits the previous week). The majority of those permits were for wells on three pads in northeastern PA. Ohio received 3 new permits last week all in one county (Greene) for one driller (Eclipse, now owned by Southwestern Energy) on one well pad. And West Virginia received a sizable 13 new permits with 9 of them split between two well pads for different drillers (Northeast Natural Energy and Tug Hill).
Continue reading

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: May 3-9

All three M-U states received permits to drill new shale wells last week. Pennsylvania received a big 18 new permits (after receiving no new permits the previous week). More than half of those 18 permits were for wells on two pads in southwestern PA. Ohio received 7 new permits last week all in one county (Jefferson), split between Encino Energy and Ascent Resources. And West Virginia received 10 new permits with 7 of them for a single pad in Lewis County.
Continue reading

| | | | | | | | |

Chesapeake Fined $1.9M for Wetland Violations at 76 PA Well Sites

At some point in the distant past (during our lifetime) swamps got renamed to “wetlands.” Don’t you just love how the left euphemizes everything? Chesapeake Energy is a bad actor when it comes to shafting landowners out of royalties, we’ll grant you that. However, the company must now pay Pennsylvania and the federal government (DOJ and EPA) a combined $1.9 million for “failure to identify and protect wetlands at 76 oil and gas well sites in Pennsylvania.” In other words, failure to protect swamps.
Continue reading

| | | | | | | |

Alta Resources Shopping 547K Marcellus Acres, Asking $3B

We don’t write much about Alta Resources, a shale drilling company co-founded by the inventor of shale fracking, George Mitchell. But that doesn’t mean Alta doesn’t drill in the Marcellus. The company owns some 547,000 gross (239,000 net) acres producing natural gas from approximately 900 wells in the Marcellus Shale across Bradford, Wyoming, Sullivan, Lycoming, Clinton, and Centre counties in northeast Pennsylvania. Alta is shopping all of their considerable Marcellus assets, looking for a buyer.
Continue reading

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Jan 25-29

All three M-U states received permits to drill new shale wells last week. Pennsylvania received 22 new permits. Ohio received 2 new permits. And West Virginia received 8 new permits.
Continue reading

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Oct. 5-9

Only Pennsylvania issued permits to drill new shale wells last week in the Appalachian region. Neither Ohio nor West Virginia issued any new drilling permits from Oct. 5-9. In PA, some 20 permits were issued in both the northeast and southwest parts of the state.
Continue reading

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Sep 28 – Oct 2

Somebody lit a fire under drillers in Pennsylvania last week! Or maybe we should say a fire was lit under the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). PA issued 35 new permits last week spread pretty much across the entire state–in the northeast, central, and southwest portions of the state. Ohio, once again, issued no new Utica permits last week. West Virginia issued a single new permit last week.
Continue reading

| | | | | |

Has the Shale Drilling Boom in Northcentral PA Gone Bust?

By any measure, it’s obvious to see that shale *drilling* activity in northcentral Pennsylvania counties–including Bradford, Clinton, Lycoming, Potter, Sullivan, and Tioga–is on the “bust” side over the past five-plus years. 2016 was the low point. However, is there any hope of seeing another boom in shale drilling in the region?
Continue reading