Roughly 700 people attended a town hall meeting on Wednesday in Bradford County, PA, where they were encouraged to contact state lawmakers and show their support for legislation that would help ensure minimum royalties for landowners with oil and gas leases. The county is one of the state’s top producers. The Bradford County Commissioners organized the meeting after voting to spend $15,000 for a public relations campaign to tell how landowners in the area are being cheated out of royalty payments (see Shale Daily,Sept. 9). Wilmot Township, which is also in Bradford County, passed a resolution this month to limit natural gas production over the post-production deductions that are reportedly lowering royalty checks there (see Shale Daily,Sept. 7). Lawmakers have tried but failed for years to pass legislation that would clarify the state’s Guaranteed Minimum Royalty Act of 1979, which sets forth the minimum payment to landowners. The statute does not address post-production costs and how they should be factored into royalty payments. The latest legislation, HB 1391, remains stuck in committee (see Shale Daily,June 26, 2015).
Bradford
Articles from Bradford
USGS Releases Land Disturbance Data in Pennsylvania
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released the latest in a series of reports analyzing land disturbance from natural gas drilling over a six-year period in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, and it plans to release another report covering nearly half the state by the end of the year.
FERC OKs Tennessee Marcellus Expansion
FERC Thursday approved Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s application to increase the compression capacity along its 300 Line to meet the growing demand for interstate natural gas transportation service in the northeastern United States and Canada.
Panda Power Completes Acquisition of Marcellus Power Plant Project
Dallas, TX-based Panda Power Funds has completed the acquisition and financing of Moxie Energy’s planned 829 MW natural gas-fueled, combined-cycle Liberty generating station, which will be located in Bradford County, PA.
ALJ Rejects Appeals of Permits for Tennessee’s Northeast Upgrade
An administrative law judge (ALJ) has turned down a request from two environmental groups to block Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co’s plans for an expansion of a natural gas pipeline in Pennsylvania, saying the groups “failed to show that they were likely to succeed on the merits or that they would suffer irreparable harm.”
Tennessee’s Northeast Upgrade Good to Go
FERC on Friday gave Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC (TGP) the go-ahead on rehearing to construct and place into service by Nov. 1 its Northeast Upgrade Project, an expansion of the pipeline’s 300 Line that is intended to move more Marcellus Shale gas to Northeast markets.
Pennsylvania DEP Unveils Air Aggregation Guidance for Drilling
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has finalized its technical guidance for single source air quality permitting for exploration, extraction and production activities from oil and natural gas operations.
Chesapeake Agrees to $1.6M Settlement With Pennsylvania Landowners
Chesapeake Energy Corp. has agreed to settle a lawsuit with a group of landowners in Bradford County, PA, who allege the company’s Marcellus Shale drilling operations contaminated their groundwater supplies.
Pennsylvania to Collect Royalties for Gas Under Public Waterways
Under a new policy by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), operators will be required to sign a lease and make royalty payments to the state for natural gas gathered from wells adjacent to navigable streams, lakes and waterways.
Pennsylvania DEP Finds Methane in Three Wells, Two Streams
Inspectors with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) found methane gas in three residential water wells and two streams in Bradford County. DEP has launched an investigation to determine the source.
