Hope Gas Fights FOIA for Detailed Maps of 30-Mile Gas Pipe in WV
Hope Gas is a Local Distribution Company (LDC) that provides gas service to approximately 125,000 residential, industrial, and commercial customers in thirty-five West Virginia counties. The company owns and maintains more than 6,900 miles of pipelines that safely deliver West Virginia natural gas to many homes and commercial or industrial sites. In September, Hope Gas asked the WV Public Service Commission (PSC) of West Virginia for permission to build a new 30-mile pipeline in Monongalia County (see Hope Gas Seeks to Build 30-Mile Gas Pipe in Monongalia County, WV). Hope says the project, with an estimated price tag of $177 million, is necessary to meet the growing demand for natural gas in the Morgantown area and to ensure reliable service for existing customers.
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The Baker Hughes U.S. rig count hit a new low for 2023 five weeks ago (see 
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.
Greylock Energy is headquartered in Charleston, WV, with offices in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Wyoming and operations scattered throughout Appalachia and the Rockies. The company’s assets comprise more than 1.19 million acres, about 6,700 wells, including the operation of 4,000 wells throughout Appalachia (shale and conventional) and 2,600 miles of pipeline. Ryan Deaderick, executive vice president and COO of Greylock Energy, spoke to Hart Energy editorial director Jordan Blum on the sidelines of the recent Hart Energy DUG Appalachia conference in Pittsburgh. Deaderick said his company has expanded and added assets in the Rockies over the past 18 months. He said the company is “always looking for diversity of investment.”
In November 2021, Northeast Natural Energy (NNE), a West Virginia driller, announced all of its gas produced in West Virginia had achieved Equitable Origin’s EO100™ Standard for Responsible Energy Development (see 
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 the acquisition of the West Virginia division of Peoples Gas for an undisclosed amount, giving the company another 13,000 customers (see 
The dead cat bounce bounced a little higher last week (i.e., the slight bounce a dead cat makes when it hits the ground). The rig count hit a new low for 2023 three weeks ago (see 
A lawsuit of interest for all landowners is playing out in West Virginia between a class of landowners and EQT Corporation, the largest natural gas producer in the country. We searched our extensive archives high and low and found no mention of this lawsuit! Somehow, it has escaped our attention — until now. As these cases often are, this one is long and complicated. However, the nub of the case, the essence of the dispute, is whether or not EQT can pay royalties to landowners based on the “raw” gas that comes out of the borehole (methane plus NGLs) or whether, as the plaintiffs argue, EQT should pay royalties based on the post-processed gas and NGLs (presumably at a much higher rate).
Yesterday, the Intermediate Court of Appeals for West Virginia issued an opinion in a case that had (until now) escaped our radar. Equinor, Norway’s state-owned oil and gas company (previously known as Statoil), said it had overpaid its severance tax bill in West Virginia for the years 2014 and 2016. Equinor said WV miscalculated the value of propane, butane, ethane, and methane produced by the company. A WV judge agreed, also granting Equinor a further 15% safe harbor deduction for transportation and transmission costs.
Score one for the good guys! We (collectively in the Conservative movement) have defeated Joe Manchin (Democrat) and his potential run for another term as Senator from West Virginia. Manchin, in our opinion, lost the moral authority to run again when he sold out the country and his fellow West Virginians by voting to approve Joe Biden’s Green New Deal disaster, otherwise known as the Inflation Reduction Act (see 
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 
The U.S. rig count changed course again last week, dropping rigs after adding rigs (albeit anemically) for the prior three weeks in a row. The national rig count lost seven rigs last week — dropping to 618 active rigs — not only the lowest rig total this year but the lowest count since February 2022. The count in the Marcellus/Utica gained one rig and now stands at 40 active rigs. However, the mix changed. PA lost two rigs, going from 22 to 20 last week. Ohio picked them up, going from 10 to 12 active rigs. And WV picked up one rig after losing it the week before. WV now stands at 8 active rigs.
Clean Fuel Services LLC, a subsidiary of Hog Lick Aggregates LLC, is one of fourteen partner companies from West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania providing hydrogen production, offtake, and connective infrastructure for the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) project. Clean Fuel’s role is to develop a hydrogen fuel depot in Fairmont (Marion County), WV, as part of ARCH2. The depot will provide a “one-stop-shop” for customers transitioning heavy-duty and medium-duty trucks, construction equipment, delivery vehicles, and bus fleets from diesel to hydrogen.