List of WV Bills Supported and Opposed by Oil & Gas Industry
Each year the West Virginia legislature meets for 60 calendar days. Those days are jam-packed with activity when they happen. As the WV oil and gas industry looks ahead to the next session, due to begin in January, there’s already a list of proposed bills the oil and gas industry supports, and some bills it definitely does not support. According to Anne Blankenship, executive director of the West Virginia Oil and Gas Association (WVONGA), West Virginia has “for years” been behind both Pennsylvania and Ohio when it comes to promoting the shale industry. It’s time, says Blankenship, to become “more competitive” with those states. Will this be the year?
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Yesterday the Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) released its West Virginia Emissions Brief (full copy below) which shows significant emissions reductions and environmental improvements made across the state. This brief further demonstrates that states can reap the rewards of energy production while practicing sound environmental stewardship simultaneously. Although West Virginia is now the seventh-largest natural gas producer in the country and one of the largest consumers of energy per capita, statewide carbon dioxide emissions have fallen 64% since 1990. And Sulfur dioxide emissions are down 94%!
The shale industry often gets a bad reputation for poor conditions along roadways where they operate–especially in West Virginia. In April, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, who is pro-coal (because much of his personal fortune comes from coal), took a swipe at shale drillers claiming shale is responsible for the poor condition of roadways in the Mountain State (see 
Pennsylvania is the #2 top producing natural gas state in the union, producing 6.2 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in 2018. Ohio is the #5 top producing natgas state, producing 2.4 Tcf last year. However, West Virginia is rapidly moving up the ranks. In 2018, WV produced 1.8 Tcf of natural gas, the #7 spot, thanks to the Marcellus and, increasingly, the Utica Shale. It’s time to give WV the respect it’s due.
West Virginia shale producers pay a 5% severance tax on all natural gas produced–you knew that, right? And in 2018 WV’s oil and gas producers (mostly shale) paid $138 million in severance taxes (see 
What appears to be an organized, ongoing effort to stop legal construction activity for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) continues in both Virginia and West Virginia. Out-of-state (paid) protesters chain themselves to equipment and block roads in a “death by a thousand cuts” approach to prevent the completion of the 85% completed MVP project. Is it time to bring racketeering charges against the groups and people behind these activities? We think it is.
Toby Rice, CEO and president of EQT, and Clay Carrell, COO and EVP of Southwestern Energy, recently had a sit down discussion about the state of the shale industry in the Marcellus/Utica and its importance to the economy of West Virginia. The discussion happened at the recent West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting and Business Summit. One surprising revelation for us: Carrell said Southwestern now spends most of its money on WV drilling.
The new leadership at the top of EQT continues to have a major impact on the company and its relationship with landowners and (in this case) entire states. Last year EQT launched an effort to overturn WV’s Senate Bill (SB) 360 (see 
It’s been over a year since we brought you news about Cunningham Energy, a small oil driller based in West Virginia (see 
Must be it was “pile on Mountain Valley Pipeline” week last week. In addition to FERC requesting U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to pull a permit for the project (which happened), a small group of leftists fanned out and snapped pictures of supposed “violations” of the MVP project in West Virginia. The “volunteers” are spun by lefty media outlets as concerned, salt of the earth citizens. We call them pipeline snitches.
The Independent Oil & Gas Association of West Virginia (IOGAWV) is already hard at work on legislative priorities for next/upcoming session of the WV legislature–which actually does not begin until Jan. 8, 2020. In WV the full legislature only meets for 60 days each year (other states can learn a lesson). IOGAWV is planning both a defensive (protect what we have) and offensive (new initiatives) strategy for next year. What’s on the list?