Last Friday, MDN told you about a problem brewing that will block new hydrogen projects from getting built in the Marcellus/Utica (see Biden IRS 45V Tax Rule Endangers Hydrogen Hub Projects in M-U). It’s an obscure tax rule known as the 45V tax credit, part of the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The Bidenistas at…
Read More...Two weeks ago, 31 new permits were issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica region. Last week, June 3 – 9, the number dropped (dramatically) by 77% to just seven new permits. And that seems to be the pattern: Way up one week, way down the next. Last week, for the second week in a row,…
Read More...For months, MDN has told you about a problem brewing that will block new hydrogen projects from getting built in the Marcellus/Utica. It’s an obscure tax rule known as the 45V tax credit, part of the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The Bidenistas at the White House, Treasury Department, and Dept. of Energy proposed a…
Read More...In January 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in THE most consequential lawsuit for Marcellus Shale drilling we’ve seen, a case called Briggs v Southwestern Energy (see HUGE NEWS: PA Supreme Court Keeps ‘Rule of Capture’ for Fracking). The PA Supremes ruled in favor of Southwestern, retaining the “rule of capture” in the Keystone State….
Read More...Only in the dysfunctional Josh Shapiro administration. Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced it had added a Customer Experience Management Advisory Council (CXMAC) to advise the DEP’s Acting Secretary and so-called Chief Customer Experience Officer on strategies and improvements to enhance service delivery to the public. The thing is, none of the…
Read More...In July 2022, MDN brought you news of a possible frac-out, or “inadvertent return” that happens when drilling mud pops out of places where it’s not supposed to — places outside the borehole being drilled (see Possible Frac-Out Reported at EQT Well Site in Greene County, PA). A landowner who lives near a well being…
Read More...Did you know that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is responsible for processing and issuing some 800 different types of permits? Does that not seem a bit excessive? (Is there a permit for applying for a permit?) Being responsible for issuing 800 permits sure sounds like government run amok. Big government. PA State…
Read More...Every now and again, the liberal Democrat editors of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette publish an unsigned editorial (from the editors) that surprises us. Yesterday was another such instance when Post-Gazette editors said Pennsylvania should leverage frack wastewater to extract lithium, which can be used to make electric vehicle batteries for Joementia’s EV fantasies. The editors cited…
Read More...Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) released its latest quarterly Natural Gas Production Report for January through March 2024 (full copy below). There were 100 new horizontal wells spud (drilled) in 1Q24, a decrease of 20 wells (-16.7%) compared to 1Q23. That number was also down from the 110 wells spud in 4Q23. This…
Read More...In April, EQT Corporation and Equinor (formerly known as Statoil) announced a deal to swap land in Pennsylvania and Ohio (see Equinor Swaps Acreage with EQT in PA & OH, Exits Operated US Shale). EQT filed an SEC report to announce that the deal was done as of last Friday. As we highlighted in our…
Read More...A new scientific study published in the June issue of Science of the Total Environment by two Penn State researchers confirms what everyone has known for the last 13 years: Recycling brine (frack wastewater) and releasing that recycled brine into groundwater supplies is not a good idea. The researchers sampled freshwater mussels downstream from a…
Read More...Coterra Energy announced a large layoff of employees at its GDS (GasSearch Drilling Services) Marcellus operation yesterday. GDS was founded in 2006 as a subsidiary of Cabot Oil & Gas (now Coterra Energy). GDS is based in South Montrose, PA, and provides services including pad site development, impoundment construction, water hauling, trucking, light equipment rental,…
Read More...Two weeks ago, 16 new permits were issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica region. Last week, May 20-26, the number increased by two to 18. Two drillers tied for the top prize for most new permits. Chesapeake Energy received five new permits, all of them for drilling in Sullivan County, PA. Ascent Resources also received…
Read More...The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has extended three temporary air permits for the Shell ethane cracker plant in Monaca, PA, which would have expired at the end of April. The extended permits will suffice until Shell files for and receives what is called a federal Title V Operating Permit for air emissions from…
Read More...Earlier this month, MDN brought you the great news that New Fortress Energy’s (NFE) proposed Wyalusing LNG export plant (in Bradford County, PA) and a docking facility in Gibbstown (in New Jersey, along the Delaware River) to load ships with PA-produced LNG, are not dead yet (see Northeast PA LNG Plant Lives! NFE Tells FERC…
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