| | | | | | | | |

16 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 13 – 19

Permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica continue to bounce up and down. One month ago, there were 26 new permits in the M-U for a one-week period. Three weeks ago, 16 new permits were issued. Two weeks ago, just ten new permits were issued. And last week, May 13-19, the number increased to 16, but only because of Pennsylvania. Range Resources scored seven new permits in PA last week, all in Washington County. EQT (and its subsidiary Rice Drilling) received six new permits last week, mostly in Fayette County, PA (with one in Washington County, PA). Southwestern Energy received three permits to drill in Brooke County, WV. Ohio issued no new permits last week.
Read More “16 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 13 – 19”

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

26 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 22 – 28

Two weeks ago, during the week of April 15 – 21, there were 16 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica. Last week, for the week of April 22 – 28, there were 26 new permits issued. Finally! A little good news on the permit front. Snyder Brothers took the top prize with eight new permits issued, all of them for a single well pad in Armstrong County, PA. Chesapeake Energy scored five new permits, all of them for a single pad in Bradford County, PA. EQT Corporation (using its Rice Drilling subsidiary) received four permits in Greene County, PA. Encino Energy also received four permits, all for one pad in Harrison County, OH. Antero Resources received three permits in Wetzel County, WV, and Southwestern Energy received two permits in Brooke County, WV.
Read More “26 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 22 – 28”

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

17 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 8 – 14

Two weeks ago, for April 1 – 7, there were eight new permits issued (see 8 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 1 – 7). However, all eight were issued in Pennsylvania. Both Ohio and West Virginia failed to issue any new permits two weeks ago. Fortunately, that changed last week. For the week of April 8 – 14, there were 17 new permits issued. Seven of those permits were issued in Pennsylvania, with the vast majority going to EQT (six permits, all in Greene County). Ohio issued four new permits last week, all of them to oil driller Encino Energy for Carroll County. West Virginia issued six new permits, with four going to EQT in Marion County and two going to Southwestern Energy in Brooke County.
Read More “17 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 8 – 14”

| | | | | | | | | | |

Tenaska Discusses Plans for CO2 Injection Wells in WV, OH, PA

Yesterday, representatives from Tenaska gave a presentation to the Hancock County (WV) Commission detailing the company’s plans to drill carbon dioxide (CO2) injection wells in West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The company anticipates drilling seven CO2 injection wells/sites in WV, 12 wells/sites in OH, and three wells/sites in PA. Tenaska has established an office in Weirton, WV, as it works toward establishing its carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) process in the region. It hopes to have wells operations by 2027.
Read More “Tenaska Discusses Plans for CO2 Injection Wells in WV, OH, PA”

| | |

Follansbee, WV to Host Plastics Recycling Node, Part of Hydrogen Hub

Follansbee, WV

Last Friday’s announcement by the Bidenistas awarding $7 billion to seven hydrogen hub projects across the country continues to make big waves (see Hydrogen Hub Winners Announced – WV Takes Prize in M-U Region). One of the seven projects to receive funding is the West Virginia-led Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2), a project that will use Marcellus/Utica natural gas as the feedstock to produce “blue” hydrogen, which is hydrogen made from natgas where carbon dioxide from the process is captured and either used or stored underground. News continues to drib and drab about some of the individual projects associated with ARCH2 that will receive some of the federal money. One of them is located in Follansbee (Brooke County), WV.
Read More “Follansbee, WV to Host Plastics Recycling Node, Part of Hydrogen Hub”

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

20 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 5-11

New shale permits issued for Jun 5-11 in the Marcellus/Utica last week dipped a bit from the previous week. There were 20 new permits issued, down from 25 issued the previous week. Last week’s permit tally included 6 new permits for Pennsylvania, 8 new permits for Ohio, and 6 new permits in West Virginia. Ascent Resources scored the most new permits with 8 issued in the Ohio Utica, spread across three counties. Chesapeake Energy had the second most new permits with 6 permits issued in the PA Marcellus across two counties.
Read More “20 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 5-11”

| | | | | | | | | | |

8 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 22-28

New shale permits issued for May 22-28 in the Marcellus/Utica fell again for a second week. There were only 8 new permits issued, down from 12 new permits issued the previous week (and 26 the week before that). This is the latest indicator of a slowdown in gas drilling in our region–the first indicator being a sudden dropoff a few weeks back in the rig count (see U.S. Natural Gas Drilling Rig Count Craters, Down 10% in One Week). Last week’s permit tally included 6 new permits for Pennsylvania, no new permits for Ohio, and 2 new permits in West Virginia.
Read More “8 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 22-28”

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

14 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jan 16-22

New shale permits issued for Jan. 16-22 in the Marcellus/Utica included only 7 new permits in Pennsylvania, 5 new permits in Ohio, and 2 new permits in West Virginia–for a grand total of 14. The top recipient of permits for last week, scoring nearly half, was Coterra Energy (the former Cabot Oil & Gas), with 6 permits issued in northeastern PA’s Susquehanna County.
Read More “14 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jan 16-22”

| | | | | |

Residents Near WV Compressor Stn Complain re Noise & Pollution

Last Thursday, residents who live near a natural gas compressor station in Brooke County, WV, asked WV Dept. of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) officials to address pollution and noise from the facility before recommending it for a permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The facility is owned by Appalachian Midstream Services, LLC, which we discovered (after a great amount of digging) is a subsidiary of Williams. Nearby residents from both WV and Pennsylvania (which is located a few hundred feet away) showed up to ask questions about, and point out problems with, the Mountaineer Compressor Station, which has been online since March 2021. The compressor is also located less than five miles from the border of Ohio (the northern Panhandle area of WV).
Read More “Residents Near WV Compressor Stn Complain re Noise & Pollution”

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

9 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Sep 26-Oct 2

Just nine new permits to drill shale wells were issued across the three Marcellus/Utica states for Sept. 26 to Oct. 2. Pennsylvania turned in the second week in a row of very low new permits–just three issued, all of them to different companies in different counties. Ohio issued just four new permits, with two of them going to Encino Energy in Carroll County. And West Virginia issued just two new permits, both to Southwestern Energy in Brooke County.
Read More “9 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Sep 26-Oct 2”

| | | | | |

Lawsuit to Block West Virginia’s New Forced Pooling Law Tossed Out

Back in March, MDN told you about a bill passed by the West Virginia legislature, Senate Bill (SB) 694, which finally brings forced pooling for shale wells to the Mountain States after eight years of trying (see WV House Passes Forced Pooling Bill, Done Deal When Gov Signs). Shortly after passage, Gov. Jim Justice signed the bill into law. SB 694 went into effect on June 7, some 90 days following passage. However, two farmers from Brooke County sued Gov. Justice to overturn the new law claiming it is unconstitutional (see Landowners Sue to Block West Virginia’s New Forced Pooling Law). The lawsuit was thrown out last Wednesday.
Read More “Lawsuit to Block West Virginia’s New Forced Pooling Law Tossed Out”

| | | | | | |

Southwestern Loses Court Case to Drill & Frack in Weirton, WV

In September 2021, the Weirton (WV) Zoning Board of Appeals rejected a request by Southwestern Energy to build a well pad inside city limits (see Weirton, WV Rejects Southwestern’s Plan for Well Pad in City Limits). Southwestern appealed that rejection through the Brooke County Circuit Court last October (see Southwestern Appeals Weirton, WV Zoning Rejection of Well Pad). The judge in the case ruled last week in favor of Weirton and against Southwestern. What happens now?
Read More “Southwestern Loses Court Case to Drill & Frack in Weirton, WV”

| | | | | |

Landowners Sue to Block West Virginia’s New Forced Pooling Law

Back in March MDN told you about a bill passed by the West Virginia legislature, Senate Bill (SB) 694, which finally brings forced pooling for shale wells to the Mountain States after eight years of trying (see WV House Passes Forced Pooling Bill, Done Deal When Gov Signs). Shortly after passage Gov. Jim Justice signed the bill into law. SB 694 is set to become active on June 7, which is 90 days following passage. However, two farmers from Brooke County have just sued Gov. Justice to overturn the new law claiming it is unconstitutional.
Read More “Landowners Sue to Block West Virginia’s New Forced Pooling Law”

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

30 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 18-24

Last week Pennsylvania issued 22 new shale well permits, up ten from the prior week. EQT led the way with five permits, all in Greene County. Both LOLA Energy and Snyder Brothers had four permits each, LOLA in Butler County and Snyder in Armstrong. For the second week in a row, Ohio had no new shale permits issued last week. Bummer. West Virginia had eight permits, up from two in the prior week. Arsenal Resources had the most with four permits in Taylor County, while Southwestern Energy had three permits–one in Ohio County and two in Brooke County.
Read More “30 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 18-24”

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

44 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Feb 7-13

Last week the number of new shale permits issued for the three M-U states more than doubled from the previous week. Four weeks ago there were 61 new shale drilling permits issued in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. Three weeks ago that number fell to 33. Two weeks ago the permit number fell again, to just 20. Last week? The number bounced back up to 44 new permits. PA issued 24 new permits, OH issued 18 permits, and WV issued 2 new permits.
Read More “44 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Feb 7-13”

| | | | | |

Southwestern Appeals Weirton, WV Zoning Rejection of Well Pad

In early September the Weirton, WV Zoning Board of Appeals rejected a request by Southwestern Energy to build a well pad inside city limits (see Weirton, WV Rejects Southwestern’s Plan for Well Pad in City Limits). Southwestern is appealing that rejection through the Brooke County Circuit Court. Southwestern is also moving forward with a request for a required state-issued permit from the Dept. of Environmental Protection.
Read More “Southwestern Appeals Weirton, WV Zoning Rejection of Well Pad”