PA Shale Drilling Permits Issued in January Show Mixed Bag
The folks at Argus Media have done an analysis of the number of shale well permits issued in Pennsylvania for January 2019. The numbers show the number of new permits issued during January were up 72% from the number issued in December 2018, but down 11% from the number of permits issued in January 2018, one year earlier. Can we divine anything from this mixed bag of numbers?
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Dominion Energy’s 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) is facing serious delays and cost overruns mainly due to lawsuits brought by Big Green groups (see 
One of the long-running complaints from shale drillers across Pennsylvania has been the amount of time it takes the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to issue a simple permit–like an erosion and sediment control permit.
Perhaps two unrelated cases of individual landowners challenging Energy Transfer’s Mariner East 2 (ME2) Pipeline–one in court, the other with regulators–doesn’t make a trend, but it is worth noting. Our antennae are up.
Pieridae Energy wants to build an LNG export plant in Nova Scotia, Canada. The Mi’kmaq (pronounced mic-mac) indigenous peoples of Nova Scotia (i.e. Indians) have never formally surrendered their “ownership” claim of Nova Scotia–a claim long disputed. In order to build and operate the Goldboro LNG export facility, Pieridae has agreed to pay off the Mi’kmaq. Call it “leave us alone” money.
A lawsuit brought by greedy lawyers (ab)using a group of 21 children against the United States for not doing enough about mythical man-made global warming has once again heated up. The lawsuit aims to force the end of using all fossil fuels in the United States, to address so called man-made global warming.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Gas severance tax must solve problem to be worth fallout; Pa. should lease land to drill natural gas to improve parks; Con Ed could run out of natural gas before moratorium starts; Diversified says CNX rogue Utica well did not impact their wells; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Record Haynesville Shale output to push 2019 U.S. LNG volume above 40m tons; NATIONAL: The natural gas price plunge isn’t over yet; Future U.S. electricity generation mix will depend largely on natural gas prices; Who will feed the LNG monster?; New report with ex-Clinton official suggests shale oil could be good for renewables.
Let the fight begin. Yesterday the Rice brothers, Toby and Derek, held a conference call with EQT investors to lay out their detailed proposal for how EQT should be run. The Rice plan includes giving the boot to current EQT CEO Rob McNally and much of top management, and installing Toby as CEO, bringing along 15 Rice alumni to kick-start EQT’s “moribund performance” (our interpretation of what Toby said).
Landowners in Ohio who didn’t like being force pooled with their neighbors have, since 2015, tried to get the courts to declare that forced pooling is illegal. They’ve struck out in every court where they’ve tried that argument, including (now) the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
The New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), thoroughly corrupted by, and a political tool of, NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo, continues to have a bad week. Monday we told you about a recent court decision that gives new hope for both the Constitution and Northern Access Pipeline projects (see 
Southwestern Energy released its 2019 predictions (guidance) yesterday. In line with other 2019 guidance numbers issued from other Marcellus/Utica drillers, Southwestern says they will spend less money and drill fewer new wells.
Utility giant National Grid, which services Long Island (part of New York City) with natural gas service, is threatening New York State that if the state does not approve Williams’ Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project by May 15th, they will, as Consolidated Edison has just done in Westchester County, impose a no-new-natural gas customers moratorium for the New York City area. Which would block development of the new $1 billion Belmont Park Arena.
It’s good to step back every now and again and look at who is drilling, how much they are drilling, and where they are drilling. We have such a list below for the 42 active shale drillers in Pennsylvania.