West Virginia Bill Blocks Federal EPA Power in the Mountain State
This is brilliant and something EVERYONE needs to pay attention to. Closely. The Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” WV Senate Bill (SB) 358 was introduced on Jan. 12. The state runs a short, 60-day session early each year. SB 358 would end state and local enforcement of certain Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules and regulations, which is 100% legal according to the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution.
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Last summer, MDN told you that the new system to assess valuations of shale wells in West Virginia had turned into a mess (see 
The Baker Hughes rig count gained another rig last week. The count went from 620 active rigs two weeks ago to 621 last week — up a single rig. It went up a single rig the week prior, too. And that’s about where we are. We have floated between 620 and 625 for all of December and January — dipping to 619 for one week during that period. It appears we’ve hit the bottom and are stable. The Marcellus/Utica remained constant last week with 42 active rigs, after PA added two rigs the week before.
In March 2023, the West Virginia legislature passed House Bill 3110, giving the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) extra funds to hire more oil and gas well inspectors. At that time, the state had just ten inspectors to oversee not only all of the state’s 75,000 documented/known wells but also the state’s estimated 15,000 abandoned wells. Frankly, it’s an impossible task for so few inspectors. HB 3110 provided funding for another 10 positions (20 inspectors total). In the past year, the DEP has hired another five, with two more in the pipeline, for a total of 17. It would be better if they had 40 or more!
There were 23 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica during the week of Jan. 8-14, versus 18 permits issued for the prior week. Pennsylvania issued 13 new permits last week. Ohio issued just 2 new permits. West Virginia issued 8 new permits — for the second week in a row. EQT scored the top slot for new permits, receiving 7 permits to drill in Lycoming and Greene counties in PA.
West Virginia continues to lag behind both Pennsylvania and Ohio with respect to building combined cycle natural gas-fired power plants. PA and OH have a combined 39 such power plants. WV has zero. In March 2023, West Virginia Senate Bill (SB) 188, aimed at making WV’s gas-fired power generation more competitive with its neighbors in PA and OH, was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jim Justice (see 
Antero Resources is one of the largest drillers in the Marcellus/Utica (with major assets in West Virginia). As good and careful as companies like Antero are when hiring, sometimes there’s a rotten apple found in the barrel. Such was the case with a former employee who headed up the company’s operations in WV — where most of its drilling happens. The former employee took bribes and kickbacks from a vendor over a period of years (2012-2015), steering contracts to that vendor. The vendor’s performance was not as good as other competitors. At the end of years of litigation, Antero was finally awarded compensation from a jury, and a bit extra from a judge, to make up for the actions of their rogue employee (see 
The Baker Hughes rig count lost ground again last week, as it has in four of the last five weeks. The count went from 621 active rigs two weeks ago to 619 last week. The Marcellus/Utica count was steady at 40 active rigs; however, the mix changed. Pennsylvania kept 19 active rigs as in previous weeks, but Ohio picked up one rig for 13 active rigs, while West Virginia lost one rig for 8 active rigs.
The Energy Workforce & Technology Council, located in Houston, TX, is a national trade association for the global energy technology and services sector, representing more than 650,000 U.S. jobs in the technology-driven energy value chain. The Energy Workforce Council works to advance member policy priorities and empower the energy workforce of the future. The Council closely tracks job numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Yesterday, the Council issued an update on O&G job numbers for December and for all of 2023. Interesting factoid: In December, the M-U industry employed 44,192 people.
The 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), which runs from Wetzel County, WV, to Pittsylvania County, VA, is nearly done, thanks to our recent warm weather. What’s left to do? Less than one mile of “upland” pipe to install, less than 50 water/wetland crossings, and just one more compression station to finish. According to Equitrans, the majority partner and builder of MVP, the pipeline will come online in March. Finally!!!!
Hope Gas provides natural gas service to approximately 131,000 residential, industrial, and commercial customers in thirty-five West Virginia counties. In October, Hope closed on acquiring the West Virginia division of Peoples Gas for an undisclosed amount, giving the company another 13,000 customers (see 
Diversified Energy Company, with major assets in the Appalachian region (including the Marcellus/Utica), announced yesterday the company had sold a majority stake in an unspecified number of Appalachian conventional oil and gas wells to an investment company called DP Lion Equity Holdco, for $200 million.