Yesterday, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro delivered his 2025-26 Budget Address to the General Assembly and the people of Pennsylvania. He presented a bloated, whopping $51.47 billion budget for 2025-2026, a 7.5-percent increase over the current fiscal year. The budget proposed flops in many ways (like legalizing pot), but none more so than his doubling down…
Read More...Prior to last week, the Baker Hughes national rig count had been in a freefall for weeks, dropping to a 3+ year low of 576 (see National Rig Count Falls Again, Lowest in 3+ Years; M-U Steady). Last week, the trend finally turned around. The national count gained six rigs to 582. The Marcellus/Utica rig…
Read More...In December, Pennsylvania’s Independent Fiscal Office (IFO), the agency charged with providing revenue projections along with impartial and objective analysis of fiscal, economic, and budgetary issues for the citizens and legislature of Pennsylvania, provided its best guess as to how much revenue the PA impact fee (i.e., severance tax) will generate from shale wells drilled…
Read More...Pennsylvania’s do-nothing Governor, Josh Shapiro, traveled to Pittsburgh yesterday to put on another shuck-and-jive all-sizzle-no-steak show. He was there to unveil what he calls his “Lightning Plan” for energy in the state. His big plan? Reintroduce and try to bully Republicans into accepting a Marcellus-killing carbon tax and onerous regulations on emissions (called PACER, see…
Read More...Yesterday, we brought you the news that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro had cut a deal (i.e., bullied) the PJM Interconnection electric grid into artificially capping electricity auctions, which will (in our opinion) eventually lead to blackouts (see PJM Grid Caves to PA Gov. Shapiro Bullying, Blackout Risk Rises). We argued that Shapiro himself is to…
Read More...Natural gas-fired electric power generation has increased in Pennsylvania since 2013 as the state has shifted toward natural gas as its main fuel source for electric power generation. In October 2024, natural gas-fired generation accounted for 57% of the electricity generated in Pennsylvania, more than twice the share in October 2013 (26%). This is thanks…
Read More...Last November, three of five supervisors in Cecil Township (Washington County), PA, voted to ban all new fracking via a new setback (distance from well to nearest structure) requirement of 2,500 feet (see Cecil Twp Supervisors Pull the Trigger on Frack Ban Via Setbacks). We said at the time, “Let the lawsuits begin.” Once again,…
Read More...The PJM Interconnection electrical grid operator that covers Pennsylvania (along with all or parts of 12 other states and the District of Columbia) has caved to the political demands of PA Gov. Josh Shapiro to artificially cap the prices of the next capacity auction scheduled for July 2025. It means electric ratepayers won’t see as…
Read More...Both conventional and unconventional (shale) drillers in Pennsylvania were supposed to submit a new annual report to the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on December 10, 2023, detailing volatile organic compound (VOC) and methane emissions from their operations over the previous one-year period. Shortly before that deadline, the DEP suspended the due date and…
Read More...There’s a reason the Haynesville shale play in Louisiana and East Texas 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. Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano, who ran for…
Read More...In March 2024, we reported that two Democrats and one anti-drilling RINO who run Bucks County, PA government (a Philadelphia suburb) fell for the bait by Big Green and filed a lawsuit against Big Oil companies for supposedly, knowingly, causing the Earth to toast to a cinder (see Bucks County, PA, Sues Big Oil for…
Read More...Pine Run Gathering LLC, a joint venture owned by Stonehenge Energy and UGI, announced yesterday that it had completed a transaction to buy Superior Midstream Appalachian, LLC, for $120 million. Superior Appalachian owns and operates three gathering systems in Pennsylvania, namely Pittsburgh Mills (Allegheny & Butler counties), Snow Shoe (Centre County), and Brookfield (Tioga County)….
Read More...In December, CNX Resources announced it had struck a deal to buy the assets of Apex Energy II, LLC, a portfolio company of funds managed by Carnelian Energy Capital Management, for $505 million (see CNX Resources Buys Apex Energy for $505M, Adds Pa. M-U Assets). Apex owns wells, acreage, and pipelines in Westmoreland County, PA….
Read More...We’re in full crash mode with the Baker Hughes national rig count. After losing five rigs three weeks ago, and four more two weeks ago, the BH rig count lost another four rigs last week—13 rigs out of circulation in three weeks. The number of rigs nationally now stands at 576, the lowest since Dec….
Read More...The highly functional and responsible Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), unlike its completely dysfunctional and irresponsible cousin, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), continues to support the shale energy industry by approving water withdrawals and consumptive use for responsible and safe shale drilling. The SRBC published a notice in the January 25 Pennsylvania Bulletin that…
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