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SRBC Approves 18 New & Renewed Water Use Permits for M-U Pads
The highly functional and responsible Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), unlike its completely dysfunctional and irresponsible cousin, 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 published a notice in the January 25 Pennsylvania Bulletin that the Executive Director of the SRBC gave his approval to or renewed 18 general water use permits in December for individual shale gas well drilling pads in Bradford, Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Lycoming, Susquehanna, and Tioga counties. Read More “SRBC Approves 18 New & Renewed Water Use Permits for M-U Pads”
For the week of Dec 23 – 29, permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica took a dive, which isn’t surprising given it was the end of the year. There were only 12 new permits issued for Dec. 23 – 29, less than half the 27 issued the week before. The Keystone State (PA) issued seven new permits, with five going to Repsol in Bradford and Tioga counties and two going to EQT (and Rice, owned by EQT) in Greene County. Buckeye State (OH) issued five new permits, all of which went to Encino Energy (EAP) in Carroll and Harrison counties. The Mountain State (WV), issuing precisely zero new permits. Must be the WV DEP folks were out of the office for the holiday. 
National Fuel Gas Company (NFG), headquartered in Buffalo, NY, is the parent company for Marcellus/Utica driller Seneca Resources and the parent of midstream company NFG Midstream (and subsidiary Empire Pipeline). Last week, NFG issued its latest quarterly update. During the quarter (considered the company’s fourth quarter), Seneca produced 91.9 Bcf (billion cubic feet) of natural gas, an increase of 1.8 Bcf (2%) from the prior year. Due to the sucky prices for natural gas in the Marcellus/Utica basin area, Seneca curtailed (shut-in) 1.5 Bcf during the quarter. 
A couple of interesting developments with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), which, unlike its dysfunctional cousin, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), the SRBC continues to allow water withdrawals to supply water for shale fracking in northeastern Pennsylvania. The first development is that over the weekend (on Saturday), the SRBC Hydrologic Conditions Monitor showed low stream flows in some areas that triggered water withdrawal restrictions for water users, including seven shale gas water withdrawal locations (most of them for driller Repsol). The other development is that two days earlier, on Thursday, the SRBC approved new water withdrawal requests for 22 new projects, including eight from shale drillers! 
Three weeks ago, 31 new permits were issued to drill in the entire Marcellus/Utica region. Two weeks ago, the number dropped (dramatically) to just seven new permits. And then last week, the number of permits issued soared once again — all the way up to 46. Bam! We just kicked it up a notch. Seneca Resources took the top spot for new permits, receiving a total of nine permits, all in Tioga County, PA. Chesapeake Energy and Antero Resources tied for second place with seven new permits each, with Chessy’s permits coming in Bradford County, PA, and Antero’s in Doddridge County, WV. Coming in third was Jay-Bee Oil & Gas with six permits issued in Pleasants County, WV. State by state, PA issued 24 new permits, OH issued 9, and WV issued 13 permits.
As we report in a companion post today, Pennsylvania is currently dishing out close to $180 million in impact fees raised from 2023 shale activity — PA’s version of a severance tax (see PA PUC Distributes 2023 Impact Fee – Revenue Dropped $99M YOY). As the name implies, some 60% of the money raised goes to the counties and municipalities where drilling happens, those “impacted” by shale drilling. The other 40% goes to the black hole of Harrisburg for redistribution to various state agencies and the other counties with no shale drilling. Let’s look at how some counties and towns will spend the money coming their way.