West Virginia

Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH | Statewide WV | West Virginia

29 States Ask Supreme Court to Stop Obama Clean Power Plan ASAP
February 8, 2016February 8, 2016

On January 26, 2016, 29 states and state agencies, including Ohio and West Virgina, filed an application with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking an immediate stay of President Obama’s Clean Power Plan (CPP). A week before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied such a stay, so the states are taking it to the final authority in such matters. The states are begging the court for a stay because the CPP will do “irreparable harm” if it is allowed to be implemented by the dictatorial Obama Administration. For background on how this horrible plan will damage natural gas and our economy in general, see 9 Fatal Flaws with Obama EPA Clean Power Plan. Energy law firm Baker Hostetler LLP is the law firm of record for the State of Oklahoma and Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality in this case. Below is an update from Baker Hostetler on the Supreme Court filing…
Read More “29 States Ask Supreme Court to Stop Obama Clean Power Plan ASAP”
Accidents | Belmont County | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Ohio | Trucking | West Virginia | Wetzel County

3 Marcellus/Utica Truck Accidents in Ohio Valley – in Past 7 Days
February 5, 2016February 5, 2016

With Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling comes truck traffic–a lot of truck traffic. Which is great if you’re a driver who needs work, or a trucking company who wants to chase the business. But not so great if you live in the area where trucks are jamming up the roadways. Another downside to the truck traffic is the occasional accident. In the past week there have been three truck accidents in the Ohio Valley area–in Wetzel and Marshall counties in WV, and Belmont Count in OH. Two of the three required a hazmat team to deploy. Here’s the details…
Read More “3 Marcellus/Utica Truck Accidents in Ohio Valley – in Past 7 Days”
Commodity Price | Forced Pooling | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WVONGA’s Corky DeMarco Comments on Need for Forced Pooling in WV
February 5, 2016February 5, 2016

The West Virginia Press Association hosted their annual Legislative Breakfast yesterday in Charleston. A number of speakers addressed the group to discuss a range of issues. One of those speakers was Corky DeMarco, executive director of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association. Corky talked about how long the oil and gas industry will be around in WV (“a thousand years”) and about why the price of oil and gas is so low today (“we’ve kind of priced ourselves out of the market”). He also spoke about the need for forced pooling legislation…
Read More “WVONGA’s Corky DeMarco Comments on Need for Forced Pooling in WV”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Marion County | Supply Chain | West Virginia

WV Oilfield Services Co. Extreme Plastics Files for Bankruptcy
February 5, 2016February 5, 2016

Extreme Plastics Plus, Inc. is an oilfield services contractor that provides environmental lining services for oilfield and other commercial markets. The company offers above ground water containment, environmental lining, steel wall secondary containment, and rig mat services. The company’s environmental lining services include freshwater impoundments, double lined with a leak detection system, wastewater impoundments, primary and secondary lining, and rig pads. Extreme Plastics Plus was founded in 2007 and is based in Fairmont, West Virginia with other offices in eastern Ohio, northeastern Pennsylvania, Texas and Oklahoma. Other names used by the company are Three Amigos Rentals and American Well Services. On January 31, Extreme Plastics Plus filed for bankruptcy protection…
Read More “WV Oilfield Services Co. Extreme Plastics Files for Bankruptcy”
Fayette County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation | Wastewater | West Virginia

Big Green Groups Funding Fayette County, WV Ban Lawsuit
February 4, 2016February 4, 2016

The people behind Big Green groups are nasty people. They are, according to one source we have communicated with, “terrorizing” legitimate oil and gas businesses in Fayette County, WV. We’ve highlighted the ongoing story of three liberal Democrat county commissioners who decided to ban not only injection wells, but over 500 conventional oil and gas wells currently operating in Fayette County, WV (see Anti Admits Fayette County, WV Ban Aims to Shut Down All O&G Wells). The ban was intentionally written so broadly (by Big Green groups assisting the county) it not only bans injection wells, like those operated by Danny Web Construction and EQT, but it will also ban currently operational oil and gas wells. It is an outrageous offense and “taking” of private property, violating the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. EQT and Danny Web have sued the county and a federal judge slapped an injunction on the county’s ban (see Judge Stops WV County from Enforcing Injection Well Ban, For Now). You can add another outrage to the situation. The county will be represented in the lawsuit against them by several Big Green groups, groups with deep pockets and armies of lawyers, for FREE. It is a clear conflict of interest and should not be allowed. Members of these groups are responsible for falsely calling in claims of spills that never happened, making false claims alleging toxins in streams that don’t exist, etc. These groups have perpetuated smear campaigns against legitimate o&g businesses–ruining reputations. And now they will be allowed to use their enormous financial resources to defend the county in this lawsuit? Sick…
Read More “Big Green Groups Funding Fayette County, WV Ban Lawsuit”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Fayette County | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Wastewater | West Virginia

Anti Admits Fayette County, WV Ban Aims to Shut Down All O&G Wells
February 3, 2016February 3, 2016

An update on a developing story we’ve covered the past several months. In January, three Democrat county commissioners from Fayette County, WV, with the backing and help of the radical WV Mountain Party, voted to ban injection wells in the county (see WV County Officially Bans Injection Wells; Children Brainwashed). In fact, the ban is intentionally written so broadly it will also ban the operation of more than 500 vertical oil and gas wells in the county. The next day EQT sued to overturn the ban (see EQT Sues WV County that Banned Injection Wells, Seeks Injunction). Not long after, a U.S. District Court judge slapped an injunction on the county preventing them from enforcing the ban at least until a hearing scheduled for later this month (see Judge Stops WV County from Enforcing Injection Well Ban, For Now). The judge says EQT “is likely to succeed” in their lawsuit to overturn the ban.” The new news is an article where one of the chief architects of the ban, from the Mountain Party, admits the ban is intended to stop all oil and gas activity in the county. Another well operator in Fayette County, Cabot Oil & Gas, is now evaluating the ban and considering joining the lawsuit against the county. We sure hope Fayette County has a LOT of money squirreled away for legal fees and fines and penalties coming their way…
Read More “Anti Admits Fayette County, WV Ban Aims to Shut Down All O&G Wells”
Antero Resources | Doddridge County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Kanawha County | Litigation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

More People Pile on Antero, Seek to Join Mass “Nuisance” Lawsuit
February 2, 2016February 2, 2016

Last September MDN told you about the troubling news that more than 200 residents in WV (likely those who don’t own the mineral rights under their land) began filing “scores” of “nuisance” lawsuits over the past couple of years against Antero Resources and Hall Drilling, in places like Doddridge County (see Scores of “Nuisance” Lawsuits Against WV Drillers Combined). The lawsuits claim excessive traffic, odors and noise from nearby drilling make it “impossible” for them to enjoy their homes. The troubling development was that all of these lawsuits (dozens? hundreds?) had been rolled up into one mega lawsuit that sits before the WV Mass Litigation Panel. In other words a class action lawsuit. Since then we’d not heard anything, until we read about two more such lawsuits filed in Kanawha County. The lawyers want to add the two to the existing mass litigation case…
Read More “More People Pile on Antero, Seek to Join Mass “Nuisance” Lawsuit”
Braskem | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Odebrecht | Processing Plants | West Virginia | Wood County

A Crack of Light for the West Virginia Cracker?
February 1, 2016February 1, 2016

Speaking at an industry conference in Pittsburgh last week, West Virginia’s Dept. of Commerce Secretary, Keith Burdette, indicated there’s still a faint blip on the monitor that Odebrecht may yet decide to build an ethane cracker plant in Wood County, WV. According to Burdette, Odebrecht’s subsidiary Braskem will purchase more land for the cracker by the end of the first quarter. If the Odebrecht cracker project was as dead as a door nail (which it has appeared to be in recent months), it doesn’t seem like they would continue to spend money on it. Right? Burdette also said all three large cracker projects, Odebrecht, Shell’s project in PA, and PTT Global’s project in OH have indicated they are likely to push off a final investment decision (FID) until 2017. Bummer…
Read More “A Crack of Light for the West Virginia Cracker?”
Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | Taxation | West Virginia

Why Can’t We be Friends: Can Coal & NatGas Get Along in WV?
February 1, 2016February 1, 2016

Can’t we all just get along? That was the message from Corky DeMarco, executive director of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association, in responding to a call from Murray Energy CEO Robert Murray that West Virginia should trim the coal severance tax from 5% to 2%, and raise the natural gas severance tax from 5% to whatever in order to give coal a break in the Mountain State. Murray went after natural gas in a speech last week at the West Virginia Coal Mining Symposium in Charleston, WV. It appears Murray’s philosophy is “every man for himself” when it comes to government taxation. He’s wrong. Here’s why…
Read More “Why Can’t We be Friends: Can Coal & NatGas Get Along in WV?”
Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Fayette County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation | Wastewater | West Virginia

Judge Stops WV County from Enforcing Injection Well Ban, For Now
January 27, 2016January 26, 2016

The second step has been taken in overturning an illegal ban on wastewater injection wells in Fayette County, WV. You may recall we told you two weeks ago that three Democrat county commissioners voted to ban injection wells (see WV County Officially Bans Injection Wells; Children Brainwashed). There are two injection well operators in Fayette County: Danny Webb Construction and EQT. The day after the vote EQT sued to overturn the new ban (see EQT Sues WV County that Banned Injection Wells, Seeks Injunction). On Tuesday, Jan. 19, U.S. District Court Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. granted an injunction preventing the county from enforcing the ban at least until a Feb. 11 hearing. As part of his reasoning, Judge Copenhaver said EQT “is likely to succeed” in their lawsuit to overturn the ban…
Read More “Judge Stops WV County from Enforcing Injection Well Ban, For Now”
Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide VA | Statewide WV | Virginia | West Virginia

US Forest Service Blocks Atlantic Coast Pipeline in National Forests
January 25, 2016January 25, 2016

Cow Knob Salamander

In the end it was the cow nobs and red spruce that have slowed down Dominion’s $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina. Specifically, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has refused to grant Dominion a special permit to cross teeny tiny sections of the Monongahela and George Washington national forests in West Virginia and Virginia. Why? Because of concerns about cow knob salamanders, northern flying squirrels and red spruce trees. Just last November MDN told you that Dominion and ACP were bending backwards, forwards and sideways to avoid running through cow nob salamander territory (see Dominion Files Pipeline Route Change to Avoid Salamanders, Swamp). Apparently the USFS doesn’t think Dominion’s plan is good enough. It’s now back to the drawing board to see where, in those regions, ACP can safely be run to avoid radical environmentalist demands. Of course the answer is “no where” as they are always unreasonable about these things. There is no “how can we work this out to your satisfaction” when it comes to nut cases. The antis simply demand, like petulant children, that you not do it at all. Which is just what the other side is now saying about ACP…
Read More “US Forest Service Blocks Atlantic Coast Pipeline in National Forests”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Southwestern Energy | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Southwestern Energy Cuts Workforce 44%, 200 Marcellus Jobs Gone
January 22, 2016January 22, 2016

We have some very sad news to share today. Yesterday Southwestern Energy Company, one of the largest drillers in the Marcellus/Utica and the third largest independent natural gas driller in the U.S., announced it will lay off 1,100 people and pause its drilling program. That 1,100 is out of 2,500 employees–or 44% of the company. It was just a few weeks ago that Southwestern got a new CEO, Bill Way (see Southwestern Energy Gets New CEO – What’s Ahead for 2016?). We mused at the time: “When there’s a change in leadership, it has the potential to impact company strategy. So we’re always interested when changes of this type come along. The question now is, what’s ahead for 2016 with Bill Way at the helm?” Indeed. We can see what kind of changes Mr. Way is bringing. In October 2014 Southwestern announced a deal to buy 413,000 Marcellus/Utica acres from Chesapeake Energy, most of it in West Virginia (see Chesapeake Sells Close to 25% of Marcellus/Utica Operation). Then in December 2014, Southwestern bought 46,700 net acres of leases in northeastern PA from WPX for $300 million (see First Shoe Drops: WPX Sells 1/2 Marcellus Assets to Southwestern). Southwestern holds about 755,000 acres total in the Marcellus/Utica region. When everyone else was slowing down, Southwestern was doubling down on their drilling program (see Southwestern’s Contrarian Plan: Double Down on Drilling in the Marcellus). It seems that the wind has finally gone out of Southwestern’s sails. The company did not post an official press release on their website, so we’ve pieced together coverage from a number of sources to try and give you a complete picture of what they said yesterday…
Read More “Southwestern Energy Cuts Workforce 44%, 200 Marcellus Jobs Gone”
Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | Taxation | West Virginia

WV Gov. Tomblin Proposes to LOWER Oil & Gas Severance Tax
January 22, 2016January 22, 2016

Ohio Gov. John “foreigner hunter” Kasich has been hellbent on raising Ohio’s oil and gas severance tax–for years. As recently as last June Kasich predicted his 6.5% proposed severance tax would get adopted (see Kasich Predicts Severance Tax Deal Will Happen, Others Say No). Last fall OH Republicans continued to flirt with the idea (see Ohio Legislators Continue Dalliance with Kasich Severance Tax). The state still has not raised it, even though Kasich has lobbied hard for over three years. Pennsylvania, on the other hand, continues to consider converting their better impact fee for a less better severance tax. Republicans there are getting weak-kneed too (see Some PA Republicans Beginning to Cave on Severance Tax). It seems the severance tax is like the mythical siren song attempting to lure states onto the rocks of less drilling. But hold on to your hat. In contrast to OH and PA, there’s one state, and one governor, who’s not falling for higher severance taxes. PA Democrats trot out West Virginia as their shining example of how severance taxes don’t chase drillers away–to bolster their argument that PA should adopt a severance tax. Guess what? WV figured out high severance taxes DO chase drillers away, and WV’s Democrat governor, Earl Ray Tomblin, is proposing the state LOWER its oil and gas severance tax in 2016! It’s a devastating blow to PA Gov. Tom Wolf and his obsessive-compulsive insistence on a severance tax…
Read More “WV Gov. Tomblin Proposes to LOWER Oil & Gas Severance Tax”
Forced Pooling | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Some Give Up, Others Continue to Oppose WV Forced Pooling Law
January 22, 2016January 22, 2016

The fight for a forced pooling law in West Virginia continues. Some who have opposed such a law in the past are now changing position and attempting to get as favorable terms as possible. They’re throwing in the towel. Others are still hoping to stop the bill, for a fifth time. So far the forced pooling bill has not been introduced, even though the WV legislature began its 60-day session last Wednesday, Jan. 13…
Read More “Some Give Up, Others Continue to Oppose WV Forced Pooling Law”
Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Fayette County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation | Wastewater | West Virginia

EQT Sues WV County that Banned Injection Wells, Seeks Injunction
January 20, 2016January 20, 2016

That was fast. A week ago three Democrat county commissioners in Fayette County, West Virginia voted to ban injection wells in the county (see WV County Officially Bans Injection Wells; Children Brainwashed). Immediately after that vote was taken (last Tuesday), on Wednesday EQT filed a lawsuit against the county. EQT not only operates an injection well in the county, they also operate 200 conventional oil and gas wells in the county, providing the county with $100,000 per year in tax revenue, and “tens of thousands of dollars in royalty payments” to private landowners. According to EQT’s lawsuit, the ban in Fayette is so broad, it would prohibit not only injection wells, but all oil and gas production in the county. EQT is seeking an injunction to stop enforcement of the new ban while the court case plays out. The county will now spend big bucks to defend their farcical ban that will no doubt end up being overturned. Perhaps taxpayers want to rethink whom they elect as county commissioners?…
Read More “EQT Sues WV County that Banned Injection Wells, Seeks Injunction”
Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV’s 2014 Natural Gas Production was “Shocking” – 1 Tcf
January 19, 2016January 19, 2016

The most recent year full production numbers are available for West Virginia is 2014, recently released. In talking about how much the Mountain State produced for natural gas, oil, and NGLs (natural gas liquids, like ethane, pentane, propane and butane), the head of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia (IOGAWV), Charlie Burd, said the production numbers are “shocking”–in a good way. Example: If you include conventional and unconventional natural gas production in the state, in 2014 WV produced 1 trillion cubic feet of natgas…
Read More “WV’s 2014 Natural Gas Production was “Shocking” – 1 Tcf”