Things are never dull in the shale: Pennsylvania Court Fights The fight in Pennsylvania over its oil and gas laws moved to the courts this week. In Robinson Township v. Commonwealth, the Commonwealth Court stayed for 120 days the specific provisions of recently enacted Pennsylvania Act 13 which limit the ability of local municipalities to label [...]
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Marcellus Shale Update – March 6, 2012
The first shots in what promises to be an extended judicial battle over hydraulic fracturing in New York State were fired on February 21 and 24 when first Judge Philip Rumsey of the New York Supreme Court, Cortland County and then Judge Donald Cerio, Jr. of the New York State Supreme Court, Otsego County, ruled [...]
Marcellus Shale Update – February 14, 2012
Yesterday afternoon, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett signed House Bill 1950 amending Pennsylvania’s Oil and Gas Law to provide for a comprehensive scheme for “unconventional gas wells”. The bill is a comprehensive change that, among other things, increases setback requirements, specifies bonding requirements for different types of wells and increases environmental reporting requirements. While these changes [...]
Marcellus Shale Update – February 7, 2012
As the most recent update focused on the low price of natural gas, President Obama’s State of the Union Address and the impact of the gas price on shale exploration, it is instructive to take a more global view of the natural gas and oil market relating to shale. In his State of the Union [...]
Marcellus Shale Update – January 31, 2012
January 2012 is almost gone, and it has been far tamer than December 2011. Still, the first month of the new year has seen plenty of fascinating and important events on the shale drilling front. The two most significant events have been the continued low price of natural gas and President Obama’s State of the [...]
Marcellus Shale Update – Youngstown, OH Earthquakes
A series of moderate earthquakes that may be related to wastewater disposal has struck near Youngstown, Ohio, with the latest being a 4.0 event that hit New Years Eve. Another tremor hit Christmas Eve. Since March, approximately 11 small earthquakes have hit the same area, which is close to a well in which D & [...]
Marcellus Shale Update – December 31, 2011
On the last day of 2011, it’s time to look both back and ahead in the development of Marcellus Shale and other shale‐based natural gas. There is no doubt that during this past year the words “hydraulic fracturing”, “hydrofracking” (or “hydrofracing”) and “fracking” (or “fracing”) became household terms. With that in mind, let’s isolate some [...]
Marcellus Shale Update, December 15, 2011
West Virginia Earlier this afternoon, a special session of the West Virginia Legislature called by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin passed a bill to regulate Marcellus Shale gas drilling in that State. After two hours of discussion, the bill passed the House 92‐5. It then went to the Senate where, without discussion, it passed unanimously 33‐0. [...]
Marcellus Shale Update, November 30, 2011
As the holiday season commences, the drama over shale drilling expands and widens. Having watched its neighbors West Virginia and Pennsylvania wrestle with the issues, it is now Maryland’s turn. This shows both how the shale debate has expanded into geographic areas that once thought themselves far removed, and how significant the dollars are. Maryland [...]
Marcellus Shale Update, November 17, 2011
Moving separately but simultaneously, the States of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York are heading rapidly toward making serious decisions about mineral extraction. Let’s take them one at a time: West Virginia A State House-Senate Joint Select Committee on Marcellus Shale moved yesterday that a comprehensive Marcellus Shale regulation bill be directed back from the [...]