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46 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 10 – 16

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.
Read More “46 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 10 – 16”

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7 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 3 – 9

Two weeks ago, 31 new permits were issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica region. Last week, June 3 – 9, the number dropped (dramatically) by 77% to just seven new permits. And that seems to be the pattern: Way up one week, way down the next. Last week, for the second week in a row, Ohio issued ZERO new shale permits. The top permit receiver for last week was HG Energy, which had five permits for a single pad in Doddridge County, WV. The other two permits were issued in PA: one to CNX in Greene County, and the other to Range Resources in Washington County.
Read More “7 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 3 – 9”

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WV PSC Approves Massive 2,060 MW Gas-Fired Plant for Doddridge Co.

In September 2022, Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) announced that it had selected West Virginia for a 1,800-megawatt (later upgraded to 2,060 MW), combined-cycle natural gas power station that also uses carbon capture and storage (see CPV Announces Plans for Massive $3 Billion, 1,800 MW Gas-Fired Plant in WV). At that time, CPV was not prepared to announce where the massive new power plant would be built — but later confirmed that the project, called the Shay Energy Center, would be located in Doddridge County (see CPV Confirms Doddridge County, WV Location for Gas-Fired Plant). In January of this year, we questioned why there has been no word on the status of this important project (see WV Still Waiting to Build State’s First Big Gas-Fired Power Plant). We are delighted to report the WV Public Service Commission (PSC) approved the Shay Energy Center on Monday. Let the bulldozers start!
Read More “WV PSC Approves Massive 2,060 MW Gas-Fired Plant for Doddridge Co.”

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35 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Dec 11-17

New shale permits issued for Dec 11 – 17 in the Marcellus/Utica continued the trend up over the previous week. There were 35 new permits issued last week versus 27 issued two weeks ago. Last week’s permit tally included 17 new permits in Pennsylvania, 13 new permits in Ohio, and 5 new permits in West Virginia. The company receiving the most permits last week was Ascent Resources with 8 new permits in two different counties: Guernsey and Belmont counties in OH. Antero was second highest with 5 new permits in Ritchie and Doddridge counties in WV.
Read More “35 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Dec 11-17”

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25 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Nov 27 – Dec 3

New shale permits issued for Nov 27 – Dec 3 in the Marcellus/Utica were much improved over the previous few weeks. There were 25 new permits issued last week versus 14 issued two weeks ago and just one new permit three weeks ago. So the trend is our friend! Last week’s permit tally included 15 new permits in Pennsylvania, 8 new permits in Ohio, and 2 new permits in West Virginia. Three companies tied for top place with 4 permits each: Seneca Resources in PA, Ascent Resources and Encino Energy in OH.
Read More “25 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Nov 27 – Dec 3”

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U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Antero’s WV Well Tax Case

In a court case that stretches back to 2019, Antero Resources, the biggest driller in West Virginia, challenged how its wells had been valued for tax purposes in Doddridge and Richie counties for 2016 and 2017. Antero said the combined value of its wells for those years should have been $1.488 billion. The state tax commissioner reckoned the value to be $1.513 billion. The controversy over well valuations, not only for Antero but other drillers, led to a reworking of how the state law values shale wells (see WV Supreme Court Tweaks Shale Well Property Tax Calculation). The controversy eventually led to a newly passed bill aimed at clearing up the fuzzy edges of how to interpret well valuations (see Bill to Fix WV NatGas Property Tax Rule Close – Will Gov Sign?). Gov. Jim Justice signed the bill (House Bill 4336) into law in March 2022. But there was still the matter of Antero’s valuations under the old rules…

UPDATE: There is an important update/correction listed below.
Read More “U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Antero’s WV Well Tax Case”

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23 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Oct 2 – 8

New shale permits issued for Oct 2 – 8 in the Marcellus/Utica were the same exact number as those issued the previous week. But wow, was there a shift in where they were issued! There were 23 new permits issued last week. Last week’s permit tally included a pathetic 4 new permits in Pennsylvania, 1 new permit in Ohio, and a whopping 18 new permits in West Virginia (after WV issued 13 the week prior). Antero was the top recipient, receiving 11 permits across two counties in WV: Doddridge and Wetzel. HG Energy received 7 permits in Lewis County, WV.
Read More “23 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Oct 2 – 8”

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22 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Sep 11 – 17

New shale permits issued for Sep 11 – 17 in the Marcellus/Utica rebounded. There were 22 new permits issued last week, up from 14 issued two weeks ago. But the increase came from an unlikely source. Last week’s permit tally included 9 new permits in Pennsylvania, 1 new permit in Ohio, and 12 new permits in West Virginia. WV is typically on the low end of permits, not the high end. The top permittee for the week was Antero Resources, which received 6 permits in WV. EQT was a close second with 5 permits in WV.
Read More “22 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Sep 11 – 17”

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39 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 26-Jul 2

New shale permits issued for Jun 26 – Jul 2 in the Marcellus/Utica saw a dramatic increase, thanks to a bump in Pennsylvania’s numbers. There were 39 new permits issued last week, way up from 11 issued the previous week. Last week’s permit tally included 30 new permits in Pennsylvania, 8 new permits in Ohio, and just 1 new permit in West Virginia. Coterra Energy scored the most new permits with a whopping 12 issued in Susquehanna County, PA (for two well pads). Range Resources had the second most new permits, with 7 permits issued in Washington County, PA (for one pad).
Read More “39 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 26-Jul 2”

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32 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Mar 20-26

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.
Read More “32 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Mar 20-26”

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29 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Feb 20-26

New shale permits issued for Feb. 20-26 in the Marcellus/Utica slide lower last week. There were 29 new permits issued in total last week (down from 35 the week before), including 24 new permits for Pennsylvania, no new permits for Ohio, and five new permits issued in West Virginia. Last week the top receiver of new permits by far was the largest natural gas driller in the country, EQT Corporation, with 20 new permits split between Greene and Washington counties in southwestern PA.
Read More “29 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Feb 20-26”

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35 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Feb 13-19

New shale permits issued for Feb. 13-19 in the Marcellus/Utica remained elevated last week. There were 35 new permits issued in total last week (down slightly from 40 the week before), including 27 new permits for Pennsylvania, three new permits for Ohio, and five permits issued in West Virginia. Last week the top receiver of new permits was Coterra Energy, with 13 new permits for Susquehanna County, PA. The number two permittee was Apex Energy with five permits in Westmoreland County, PA.
Read More “35 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Feb 13-19”

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26 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jan 30-Feb 5

New shale permits issued for Jan. 30 through Feb. 5 in the Marcellus/Utica were about half the number of the week before, but the week before was a recent record high. There were 26 new permits issued in total last week, including five new permits for Pennsylvania, six new permits for Ohio, and 15 permits issued in West Virginia. Which is a turnaround from previous months. Lately, WV has puttered along with just a few (if any) each week. Last week WV issued eight new permits to Antero Resources and seven new permits to Tug Hill Operating.
Read More “26 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jan 30-Feb 5”

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4th Circuit Rules Antero CAN Deduct Some Royalty Expenses in WV

A group of landowners in Harrison and Doddridge counties (in West Virginia) sued Antero Resources, claiming the company had deducted post-production costs from royalties not allowed under the leases they had signed. Last year, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia ruled mostly in favor of the landowners. Antero appealed the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (4th Circuit). Yesterday, the judges of the 4th Circuit issued their ruling (full copy below). Nobody got everything they wanted–we’d call it a split decision. However, Antero did win the right to make deductions in certain circumstances.

1/10/23 UPDATE: We’ve added some expert commentary on this case from the legal beagles of Babst Calland. See below.
Read More “4th Circuit Rules Antero CAN Deduct Some Royalty Expenses in WV”

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Antero Midstream Wins $248M Lawsuit Against Veolia re WV Plant

Antero Midstream hired Veolia Water Technologies to build and operate a state-of-the-art frack wastewater recycling facility in Doddridge County, WV, which began operations in 2017 (see Antero’s $275M WV Wastewater Recycling Facility Ready to Launch). The Clearwater Treatment Facility can process up to 60,000 barrels of wastewater per day, separating water, salt, and radioactive particles. Less than two years after it began operation, Antero suddenly shuttered the plant (see Antero Idles WV Frack Wastewater Plant Launched 2 Years Ago). What we didn’t know until now is that a lawsuit ensued between Antero Midstream and Veolia over the shuttered plant.
Read More “Antero Midstream Wins $248M Lawsuit Against Veolia re WV Plant”

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CPV Confirms Doddridge County, WV Location for Gas-Fired Plant

Doddridge County, WV

In September, Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) announced that it had selected West Virginia for a 1,800-megawatt, combined-cycle natural gas power station that also uses carbon capture and storage (see CPV Announces Plans for Massive $3 Billion, 1,800 MW Gas-Fired Plant in WV). At that time, CPV was not prepared to announce where the massive new power plant will get built–but they are willing now. The project, called the Shay Energy Center, will be located in Doddridge County.
Read More “CPV Confirms Doddridge County, WV Location for Gas-Fired Plant”