Va. Gov. Youngkin Can’t Use Exec Order to Block RGGI Carbon Tax
In early December, Virginia’s newly-elected governor, Glenn Youngkin, said that as soon as he took office he would use his executive power to withdraw Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (see VA’s New Republican Gov Pledges to Cancel RGGI Carbon Tax). RGGI is nothing more than an obscene, very expensive carbon tax. Youngkin’s pledge was a nice sentiment from someone not yet in office. Since taking office, Virginia’s leftist Attorney General told Youngkin the law does not permit the governor to use an executive order to undo a legislative action. What now?
Read More “Va. Gov. Youngkin Can’t Use Exec Order to Block RGGI Carbon Tax”
The 
Below is the list of events we are aware of that will be of interest to those with an interest in the Marcellus/Utica shale region for the first half of 2022. Some events are in the region (PA, OH, WV). Some are not (TX, OK, CO). Some are virtual/online, but most have returned to in-person. All of them are of potential interest to the MDN audience.
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Continental names former Chesapeake boss Lawler as operating chief; NATIONAL: Exxon to become net-zero company by 2050; Oil rally continues to seven year high; Novi Labs announces the acquisition of ShaleProfile; US not considering gas export ban, official says; INTERNATIONAL: Goldman Sachs sees oil at $96 this year; High natural gas prices could lead to spike in food costs through fertilizer link; U.S. natural gas is saving Europe from its own energy policy.
In early 2021 Pennsylvania raised $144.85 million from its version of a severance tax, called an impact fee, based on drilling activity from 2020 (see 
Yes we predicted it and yes we were right (self-praise stinks, we know). We told you last year when the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) went forward with an absurd increase in the fee to drill a new shale well–from $5,000 to $12,500 (250%)–it would vastly slow the growth of new shale wells being drilled in the state and fall far short of revenue goals DEP hoped would fund the oil and gas program. Yesterday the DEP confirmed we were right.
Olympus Energy (formerly Huntley & Huntley) drills in the Greater Pittsburgh region, in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. The company plans to drill a series of new wells (and well pad) in Washington Township in Westmoreland County. However, there’s a snag. Residents along a proposed road accessing the site don’t want the truck traffic on their narrow (18-foot-wide) road. Olympus doesn’t want to use an alternate route due to a sharp turn. Someone else proposed building a new access road, but it would cross a tributary that flows into the Beaver Run Reservoir (lots of red tape). The town is planning a couple of workshop meetings to figure out a solution.
The experts at S&P Global Platts have hauled out the old crystal ball–the one that looks at natural gas prices in the near-term (next couple of weeks to a month), and they foresee a rise in prices coming very soon. According to Platts, a drop in U.S. natgas production combined with colder weather that forces the use of natgas for heating which leads to tighter supplies means the price of natural gas will rise. How much and when?
The 
Last week 18 permits were issued to drill new shale wells in the Marcellus/Utica, down from 24 the week before. Pennsylvania had the most new permits with 12, mostly in the northeastern part of the state in Lycoming and Susquehanna counties. Ohio had four permits evenly divided between Columbiana and Harrison counties. West Virginia had just two lonely permits, one in Lewis and one in Wetzel counties.
A quick note to MDN readers to let you know that the software plugin we use to display PDF files is currently not functioning properly. When viewing a post with a PDF embedded the first page of the file should show immediately. It currently takes one to two minutes for the file to display. However, the file name is displayed and if you click on it, the full file should download to your computer and allow you to view it. We are working on a fix for this issue.
EQT Corporation, the largest natural gas producer in the United States, announced last Friday that all of its natural gas produced in Washington and Greene counties in Pennsylvania (the majority of its production, some 4 Bcf/d) is now officially certified as “responsibly produced” gas by two different certification organizations: Equitable Origin and MiQ. That 4 Bcf/d of certified gas represents 4.5% of all natural gas produced in the U.S.