PA Senators Propose Suspending Income Tax for NatGas Drillers
There’s a reason a single shale play near the Gulf Coast, the Louisiana and East Texas Haynesville, has more active rigs and drills more wells than both the Marcellus and Utica shales combined. That reason? Lower taxes and less regulation. Particularly compared with Pennsylvania, where the taxes and “fees” are high and regulations are far too restrictive. Two Pennsylvania State Senators, one of whom is in a primary for governor, propose to correct the situation with a new bill that would suspend the state income tax on shale drillers, among other positive moves.
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We’ve written about Doug McLinko, Commissioner for Bradford County, PA, a number of times. McLinko has been a strong supporter of the shale industry for years. In a recent interview with a local newspaper, McLinko and fellow Commissioner Daryl Miller took national leaders to task, including President Biden, for their pursuit of foreign energy sources over domestic sources. In particular, McLinko believes rail and pipelines could be an effective countermeasure to move our energy around, guarding against wild price gyrations.
For years MDN and others have warned of coming shortages for natural gas in New England, including the State of Maine. We told you that natgas and electricity prices will go through the roof due to lack of new pipelines (almost all electricity produced in New England is from gas-fired power plants). Yet New England and Maine have steadfastly refused to allow new gas pipelines to get built. So we don’t feel all that bad for Maine residents who have seen their electricity prices double and even triple since January of this year.
Last November MDN told you about a brand new organization called the Utica Energy Alliance (see 
NATIONAL: Senator pitches stiff new oil company tax; Democrats file new tax on alleged ‘windfall profits’ by big oil; Ukraine war puts Biden and USA oil at odds.
Ascent Resources, originally founded as American Energy Partners by gas legend Aubrey McClendon, is a privately-held company that focuses 100% on the Ohio Utica Shale. Ascent is Ohio’s largest natural gas producer and the 8th largest natural gas producer in the U.S. The company issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2021 update yesterday. The company averaged production of 2.03 billion cubic feet equivalent per day (Bcfe/d) during 4Q and 1.94 Bcfe/d for the full year. Nearly all of Ascent’s production (93%) was natural gas, while the rest was oil and NGLs. Ascent generated $54 million of free cash flow and $1.1 billion in profit during 4Q, but lost $806 million overall for the year based on bad hedging bets earlier in the year.
Earlier this week the Deputy Chief Administrative Law Judge of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) issued a ruling against the now completed Mariner East 2 pipeline project, assessing a $51,000 fine on the project. Which is relatively minor considering the project has already been fined by the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) more than $20 million. This latest parting shot at the now-done NGL pipeline project levied for being too loud and not doing enough to communicate with residents in an apartment complex near where the pipeline was doing construction work in Delaware County.
In June 2017, MDN brought you the news that the very first application to drill a shale well in Illinois had been made (see 
Yesterday MDN brought you news of a bold new plan by EQT CEO Toby Rice to “unleash” American LNG exports to not only help our friends in Europe, but also to reduce the amount of coal use across the world, thereby lowering coal-related emissions including carbon dioxide (see 
All this week has been CERAWeek in Houston, Texas, the annual conference where heavyweights in the energy industry, particularly oil and natural gas, meet to hear the captains of industry (and key government officials) deliver speeches, and, more importantly, to chat on the sidelines. S&P is reporting that speaker after speaker at CERAWeek says that while customers want so-called net-zero carbon energy from oil and gas, when it comes to producing electricity with net-zero carbon sources, there is no “silver bullet.” The best option for the foreseeable future is to use natural gas to generate electricity–so says the experts.
Bloomberg News (not the most reliable source) is reporting that HG Energy, a Marcellus/Utica driller headquartered in Parkersburg, West Virginia, is considering selling itself for $3+ billion. HG is a privately held company established on January 1, 2011 with backing from private equity firm Quantum Energy Partners. Where are the company’s assets located?
We’ve been tracking a bill in West Virginia that will finally, after more than eight years of trying, bring forced pooling to the Mountain State for Marcellus/Utica shale wells. Senate Bill (SB) 694 sailed through the WV Senate in record time and earlier this week hit the WV House. Yesterday the full House voted to approve SB 694 with some tweaks, sending it back to the Senate. Last night the Senate approved the House changes and the bill is now officially passed and on its way to the desk of Gov. Jim Justice for his signature. Will he sign it?
You have to hand it to the Rice boys, they sure know how to make an entrance and grab the spotlight. While attending the annual CERAWeek event in Houston yesterday, EQT CEO Toby Rice unveiled a plan to “unleash” American LNG, supplying Europe and the world with our LNG, which would displace coal, lower carbon dioxide emissions planetwide, and wean the world off the energy produced by despots like Russia and Iran. It is a bold plan with specifics.