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NFG’s Line N Balloons to 294,000 Dth/d; Seneca Buys Up Tioga Acreage
National Fuel Gas Company (NFG) — the Williamsville, NY company that drills (Seneca Resources), pipes (NFG Supply Corporation, Empire), and sells gas at the meter (NFG Distribution Corp) — issued its fiscal third quarter update Wednesday evening and talked it over with analysts Thursday morning. NFG’s fiscal year ends September 30, so their “third quarter” is everyone else’s second quarter (April–June). There’s a lot in here for Marcellus/Utica watchers, but two items stand out: Supply Corporation more than tripled the size of its Line N System Upgrade Project, and Seneca is about to start writing big checks to landowners in Tioga County. Read More “NFG’s Line N Balloons to 294,000 Dth/d; Seneca Buys Up Tioga Acreage”
Yesterday we told you about Project Oak Leaf, Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage’s (EGTS) 52.5-mile expansion that will carry Leidy gas down to Maryland and Virginia (see 
The highly functional and responsible Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), unlike its dysfunctional and irresponsible counterpart, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), continues to support the shale energy industry by approving water withdrawals and consumptive use requests for responsible, safe shale drilling. The SRBC published a notice in the July 25th Pennsylvania Bulletin that the SRBC approved and/or renewed 21 general water use permits in June for individual shale gas well drilling pads in Clearfield, Lycoming, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, and Wyoming counties. 
The Marcellus/Utica region received 30 new drilling permits last week, May 25 – 31, up from 15 permits issued two weeks ago. However, not all 30 permits reported last week were issued last week. Ohio, which is occasionally tardy in updating its public reports, included permits in last week’s report that should have been included in the previous week’s report. Last week, Pennsylvania issued 8 permits. Ohio issued 17 new permits, of which 9 were from last week, and 8 were from the week before but not reported until last week. West Virginia issued 5 new permits last week. The drillers who received new permits included: Antero Resources, Ascent Resources, Clean Energy E&P, EOG Resources, Expand Energy, Grenadier Energy, and Range Resources. 
The highly functional and responsible Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), unlike its highly dysfunctional and irresponsible counterpart, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), continues to support the shale energy industry by approving water withdrawals and consumptive use for responsible and safe shale drilling. The SRBC also tells shale drillers when to stop withdrawing if low water flow (i.e., drought) conditions exist. That’s what the SRBC did yesterday. The agency, via its Hydrologic Conditions Monitor, warned shale drillers that, at 15 listed locations (all in Pennsylvania), they must stop water withdrawals until streamflow reaches a specific “trigger flow” target (different for each location). Another 9 locations are approaching restrictions.