PA DEP Claims it Reduced Permits Backlog by Half Since 2023
Permitting in Pennsylvania overseen by the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has been a hot mess for years. A Chapter 102 Erosion and Sedimentation permit sometimes takes two, three, or even six to eight months for approval — instead of the law-mandated 14 days. It got so bad that in the fall of 2019, PA State Sen. Gene Yaw introduced a bill to allow third-party reviews of these permits to speed up approvals (see PA Sen. Yaw Intros Bill to Allow 3rd Party Review of Erosion Permits). In early March of this year, the DEP said it was making progress in reducing turnaround times for permits, including Chapter 102 permits (see PA DEP Claims Progress in Reducing Out-of-Control Permit Backlog). In late April, the DEP launched yet another initiative to reduce the time required to issue new Chapter 102 permits (see PA DEP Makes Effort to Speed Up Approvals for Erosion Permits). The DEP now claims it has reduced its massive backlog of permit applications by 56% since the end of last year. Progress, no?
Read More “PA DEP Claims it Reduced Permits Backlog by Half Since 2023”
On Tuesday, we told you that Freeport LNG closed its export plant on Sunday in anticipation of Hurricane Beryl hitting the Texas Gulf Coast (see 
The liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade increased 3.1% globally in 2023 to an average of 52.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), an increase of 1.6 Bcf/d from 2022, according to a recently released report from the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL). Expanded export and import capacity and increasing natural gas demand drove the growth in the global LNG trade last year.
NATIONAL: Front month NYMEX natural gas fell 2.62% to settle at $2.2680; BP wins key ruling in City of Baltimore climate change lawsuit; Jobs report shows gains in oilfield services outpace 2023 growth; INTERNATIONAL: Oil rises as US summer demand signs outweigh IEA estimate; Visualizing natural gas reserves by country; Institutional investors hold $4.3 trillion in fossil fuel companies.
We noticed that permit data has already been updated for last week, so we’re bringing you our weekly permit report a day early. For the week of July 1 – 7, a total of 18 permits were issued to drill new shale wells in Marcellus/Utica. There were six new permits issued in Pennsylvania, with four of them going to Range Resources for a pad in Washington County. There were four new permits in Ohio, all of them going to Encino Energy for a pad in Guernsey County. West Virginia was the surprise with eight new permits, six of which were issued to Antero Resources in Tyler County.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan used a considerable amount of fossil energy and emitted tons of carbon dioxide to jet over to Dubai last December to participate in the COP28 confab, where he released a final rule that was “two years in the making” to force the U.S. oil and gas industry to cut methane emissions by using budget-busting new technologies and onerous (frequent) inspections (see 
An anti-drilling Democrat member of the Ohio House of Representatives (representing a Cleveland suburb) would love nothing more than to ban all shale drilling in his state. He has just introduced a bill requiring drillers to disclose any and all chemicals they use for any purpose when drilling a new shale well under state-owned land. State Rep. Sean Patrick Brennan, representing the 14th Ohio House District, claims House Bill (HB) 562 will “improve public safety and transparency.” Will it? Is that its real purpose?
Yes, we’ve been keeping an eye on the (pathetic) price of natural gas as it flounders and flops. The NYMEX Henry Hub front-month contract briefly went above $3/MMBtu earlier this year, but since that time, it’s had a hard time staying above $2. It’s depressing. From time to time, we bring you predictions from various studies and government agencies. Just yesterday, we told you that EIA’s monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook predicts an average HH price of $2.50 in 2024, and $3.30 in 2025 (see 
No, we’re not talking about transitioning from male to female and female to male, a mental disorder that’s celebrated in popular culture these days. We’re talking about the “other” transitioning — from using fossil fuels to…using nothing, because without fossil fuels, you get nothing when it comes to energy. The left pretends solar and wind energy can power the world, and it’s coming any day now. Except, as we pointed out yesterday, 81.5% of all energy used throughout the world in 2023 came from fossil fuels (see 
Maybe the oil and gas industry will get the last laugh after all. We’ve written many posts comparing carbon offsets/credits to the practice of the Catholic Church selling indulgences in the Middle Ages to absolve you of your sins (
In April, the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission upheld a regulatory order from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) suspending operations of three wastewater injection wells located in Torch (Athens County), OH, owned by K&H Partners, a subsidiary of Tallgrass Energy (see 
Incorporated in 1988, Environmental Service Laboratories, Inc. (ESL) is an environmental testing laboratory based in Indiana, PA, providing various analytical testing, consulting, and field sampling services. ESL customers include Marcellus/Utica natural gas drilling companies, industrial facilities, municipalities, engineering firms, local/state/federal government, and the general public. ESL is accredited to test drinking water, wastewater, soil, solid materials, natural gas, frozen dairy products, and meat. ESL has just sold itself for an undisclosed amount to Pace Analytical Services, based in Minneapolis, MN.
Diversified Energy (formerly Diversified Gas & Oil), with major assets in the Marcellus/Utica region (with assets in other regions, too), owns approximately 8 million acres of leases with 67,000 (mostly) conventional oil and gas wells. The company’s business model is to buy lower-producing wells on the cheap and find ways to make them more productive. Last September, Diversified’s CEO Rusty Huston, in an interview with Forbes, signaled that he would be looking to buy more assets outside of the Marcellus/Utica — specifically along the Gulf Coast (see 