SRBC Water Withdrawal Restrictions Hit 42 PA Oil & Gas Operators
The weather has been fantastic for those of us living in the northeastern U.S. over the past few weeks. Clear blue skies (when they aren’t clouded with wildfire smoke from Canada), really warm temperatures, and absolutely no rain to spoil outdoor activities. Here in the Binghamton, NY area, we went from a surplus of rain and swollen rivers and lakes just a month ago to a rain deficit today. Lawns and fields and beginning to turn brown. Hey, we’re not complaining! But we do need some rain. The lack of rain in the Susquehanna River Basin has triggered water withdrawal restrictions for 42 oil and gas drillers and four other large water users (46 in all) by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC). In many cases, the SRBC order is to “cease withdrawal.”
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We can’t resist a good railroad story. The American Shortline and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) has just recognized the 
New shale permits issued for Mar. 20-26 in the Marcellus/Utica dropped by two from the prior week. There were 32 new permits issued in total last week, including 22 new permits for Pennsylvania, 8 new permits for Ohio, and 2 permits in West Virginia. (Note we recently updated last week’s report to include WV permits after the WVDEP fixed its database.) Last week the top receiver of new permits was CNX Resources with 10 new permits spread across two PA counties: Greene and Allegheny. Snyder Brothers received 8 permits in Armstrong County, PA.
The difference between the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) and the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) is stark. The former is well-run and rational, the latter is disorganized and irrational. At least with respect to fracking. Over the weekend, the SRBC published a notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin to announce that during the month of January, the agency approved 38 requests for daily water use on shale well pads in the SRBC’s jurisdictional territory in Pennsylvania, totaling some 233.5 million gallons. Put another way, this is a handy list of where drilling will soon happen in northeastern PA.
We’re always on the lookout for indicators and trends that tell us whether or not there will be more or less drilling (and leasing) in the Marcellus/Utica. Lately, we’ve seen a couple of mentions of new leases signed, at least in the Ohio Utica (see