U.S. Rig Count Down 9th Week in a Row, M-U Holds, Haynesville -6

The weekly rig count for the U.S. has continued to be anemic for over two months now. With its venerable rig count, Baker Hughes reported last Friday that overall, the U.S. rig count continued to bleed rigs–down another eight rigs to 674 in the week ending June 30. That’s the lowest count since April 2022,…

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PA House Votes 102-101 to Study Marcellus-Busting Severance Tax

Pennsylvania’s Democrat Party is hellbent on driving the Marcellus Shale industry out of the state. They have been for years. That’s just a truthful observation and beyond dispute. The latest evidence is the party’s insistence on adding a severance tax on top of the existing impact fee, PA’s version of a severance tax. The Dems…

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Natural Gas – 100 Years Ago Today, June 30, 1923

Natural Gas – 100 Years Ago Today, June 30, 1923 Tom Shepstone Shepstone Management Company, Inc. …. ….  Natural gas news from a hundred years ago offers great perspective for discussing one of the cleanest sources of energy available then and still today. It’s fun and illuminating to look back 100 years ago at what

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Enviro Groups Pressure PA Gov. Shapiro for Right to Block CCS

So sick with hatred for fossil fuels is the left, that they have turned on one of their own solutions to the “climate crisis,” which is capturing and storing (or sequestering) carbon dioxide, often shortened to CCS (carbon capture and sequestration). The left fears that successful CCS will lead to continued, or even (gasp) an…

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Invenergy Gas-Fired Plant in SWPA Given Extra 18 Mos. to Build

In January 2016, Invenergy announced its intention to build a natural gas-powered electric plant in Elizabeth Township, in Allegheny County, PA (see Invenergy Eyes SWPA for Second Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant). It took a few years, a lawsuit, and a new location, but eventually, Elizabeth commissioners approved Invenergy’s plan in December 2018 (see Elizabeth Twp in…

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11 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 19-25

New shale permits issued for Jun 19-25 in the Marcellus/Utica took another nosedive. There were 11 new permits issued last week, down from 21 the previous week. There’s just no denying that the trend in permits is generally down. Last week’s permit tally included 6 new permits in Pennsylvania, 2 new permits in Ohio (both…

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Fed Court Nixes Chesapeake Royalty Settlement with PA Landowners

In 2021, U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal, Chief Judge for the Southern District of Texas, approved deals for Chesapeake Energy to pay $6.25 million to class members of the three royalty lawsuits brought by Pennsylvania landowners (roughly 15,000 class members) and another $2.9 million to the lawyers involved (see Texas Judge OKs Chesapeake Royalty…

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DEP Sec. Negrin Focused on Cutting Red Tape, Speeding New Permits

One of the biggest complaints from drillers and pipeline companies doing business with the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), going back for years, is the lack of speed when reviewing and approving new permits. In particular, Chapter 102 (erosion and sediment control) and Chapter 105 (water obstructions and encroachments) permits. At a budget hearing…

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PA Dems Abandon Bill to Kill All Marcellus Drilling Using Setbacks

In April, MDN told you about a radicalized faction within the Pennsylvania Democrat Party trying yet another ploy to block all new Marcellus drilling in the state (see PA House Bill 170 Kills New Marcellus Drilling Using Setbacks). Danielle Friel Otten, a committed anti-fossil fueler representing part of Chester County (Philadelphia area) in the Pennsylvania…

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Full PA Senate Confirms Rich Negrin 48-1 for DEP Secretary

The Pennsylvania Senate voted yesterday to confirm Rich Negrin as the Secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). No more “Acting” in front of his title. The vote was 48 to 1 to confirm, with the lone holdout being Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Adams). As we reported yesterday, Sen. Gene Yaw gave Negrin a grilling…

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PA Senate Committee Grills, Approves Rich Negrin for DEP Secretary

Yesterday, the Pennsylvania State Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee interviewed and unanimously voted to recommend the nomination of Richard Negrin as Secretary of Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) be approved. But not before Sen. Gene Yaw put Negrin on the hot seat, asking him some VERY pointed questions about the department and Negin’s own…

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Natural Gas Hand Up for Renovo Slapped Away by the Unknowing

Natural Gas Hand Up for Renovo Slapped Down by the Unknowing Rhonda Balchun Renovo Borough Councilwoman ….   [Editor’s Note: Renovo residents have lived with natural gas for decades but a new gas-fueled, job-creating power plant was killed by those who know and care not about the town.] My name is Rhonda Balchun, and I

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Drought Over? SRBC Approves New Shale Water Withdrawals in PA

Just two weeks ago, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) told all water users in the basin that have withdrawal permits, including shale drillers, they should review those permits, and if there are restrictions for withdrawals during low streamflow conditions, they need to make alternative plans (see SRBC Advises Water Permit Holders to Consider Alternative…

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West Deer Approves Olympus “Leto” Well Pad, Antis Pledge to Sue

Olympus Energy (formerly Huntley & Huntley) drills in the Greater Pittsburgh region, in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. In 2021, Olympus applied to build a new well pad in a rural part of Allegheny County, in West Deer Township. So-called “concerned citizens” got amped up to oppose the project. They succeeded when town supervisors rejected the…

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