Permit

The unconventional oil and gas rig count sagged in the week ending Aug. 17, with numbers flat or declining in 10 of the nation’s 13 unconventional plays compared with the week before, but the liquids-rich Niobrara-Denver Julesburg (DJ) Basin continues to soar, according to NGI’s Shale Daily Unconventional Rig Count.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is reportedly close to making a public endorsement of high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) and will unveil a plan to allow the practice on a limited scale initially, but under strict regulation and only in localities that welcome it.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich has signed an executive order prohibiting the state’s Department of Natural Resources “from issuing any permit, license or lease allowing for the withdrawal or production of oil and gas from or under the bed of Lake Erie.” Congress previously enacted legislation prohibiting the issuance of permits or leases for drilling under the Great Lakes, but it was important that Ohio issue its own prohibition on Lake Erie drilling in case the congressional ban should be lifted, according to the executive order.

Noting it is one of the only proposed exporters not tied to domestic U.S. natural gas supplies, Oregon LNG has filed with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for a permit to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies to non free trade nations, saying that the proposed project at the mouth of the Columbia River will have very little, if any, impact on U.S. gas prices or the national supply-demand balance.

FERC Thursday approved a request of Equitrans LP, a subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based EQT Corp., to place into service the remaining facilities of a new pipeline in Pennsylvania and West Virginia that will provide additional takeaway capacity for Marcellus Shale gas producers.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) has remanded permit applications for two wastewater disposal wells in Pennsylvania back to the agency’s Region 3 office in Philadelphia, on suspicion that inadequate testing of nearby drinking water wells was performed.

Twenty inspectors with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) have filed a grievance with the state, alleging the agency’s plans to hire additional Marcellus Shale inspectors are unfair because the new hires will be paid more and have fewer prerequisites.

The cause of an apparent “well control incident” at a Chesapeake Energy Corp. natural gas drilling site in Wyoming was under investigation Wednesday, and the producer was preparing resources and equipment to get it under control. No injuries were reported.

Pennsylvania issued its 3,000th Marcellus Shale drilling permit of the year in November, but the final well count for 2011 is likely to fall just shy of 2,000, if drilling remains at its current pace.