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Shell Cracker Set to Come Online in 2022 – More Coming Attractions
Our friends at NGI (Natural Gas Intelligence) are running an excellent series providing expert forecasts for the global natural gas and oil markets in 2022. The latest installment interviews several experts about the prospects for the Marcellus/Utica. With the Shell ethane cracker plant coming online sometime this year, the prospects for NGL sales in the M-U have picked up. Also in the discussion: capping Pennsylvania’s orphaned wells, drilling in the Wayne National Forest, and the Mountain Valley Pipeline coming online.
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There is a clear delineation in the U.S. Constitution that says anything not specifically enumerated in the Constitution is left up to the individual states to govern and regulate. Leftists have for years tried to chip away, and under Joe Biden dynamite away, that distinction. Especially with regard to nationalizing the regulation of oil and gas drilling. The left’s favorite tool to regulate O&G is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is charged with regulating and enforcing various laws including the federal Clean Air Act (CAA) and federal Clean Water Act (CWA). In a case that will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court next month, West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, the “potential ramifications” are “profound” according to anyone and everyone paying attention.
The West Virginia State Legislature passed House Bill (HB) 2581 on the last day of the annual WV legislative session in April 2021. HB 2581 changes how the State Tax Department values producing oil and gas wells for property tax purposes (see 
Since early 2015 (seven years ago!) we’ve been tracking stories about various proposals to build Marcellus gas-fired power plants in the Mountain State (see 
In December a jury in Ritchie County, WV awarded the county’s Economic Development Authority (EDA) nearly $1 million in damages in a trespassing case. The case is complicated, but at its heart is the issue of a Marcellus-focused company, Ronald Lane Inc., and land Lane deeded to the local EDA. A lawsuit against Lane alleged the company leased the deeded land for “oil and gas purposes” (to Columbia Gas as a heavy equipment storage facility) and that Lane never told the EDA about the lease nor shared the profits received from that lease.
This edition of the Marcellus/Utica permits report covers the past two weeks as MDN was taking a break during the last week of 2021. For the period of December 20 through January 2, there were 29 permits issued to drill new shale wells in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. PA had 16 new permits (most of them located on two well pads), OH had 12 new permits (spread across five well pads), and WV had just one new permit. Must be WV DEP took the last two weeks of the year off.
Some really good (and expected) news to report. The West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection (WV DEP) issued a key permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to finish work crossing rivers and streams in the Mountain State. MVP, a 303-mile pipeline from West Virginia into southern Virginia, is currently 94% built and in the ground. There are several portions left to complete it, including crossing rivers and streams in both Virginia and West Virginia. The permits needed to do so come from three sources: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Virginia Water Control Board, and WV DEP.
It was one year ago that West Virginia’s two oil and gas trade associations, the Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia (IOGAWV) and the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association (WVONGA) merged into one new organization called the Gas and Oil Association of WV, or GO-WV (see 
Project Canary, a program that certifies natural gas drillers and pipeline companies as producing responsibly sourced gas (RSG), continues to make big inroads in the Marcellus/Utica. Earlier this week MDN told you that Olympus Energy will use Project Canary to certify both its drilling and (believed to be a first in the country) its gathering pipeline system (see 
The EQT Foundation was established in 2003 as a dedicated resource for financial, in-kind, and volunteer support to communities where EQT works and has a presence. Since its inception, the EQT Foundation has awarded more than $60 million to nonprofits throughout the operational footprint of EQT. That is an amazing number! In honor of Giving Tuesday, yesterday EQT announced the launch of two new giving programs to support the communities of Greene County, PA, and Wetzel County, WV.