Permits

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) cleared a key regulatory hurdle this week, when the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) waived the state’s water quality certification (WQC) requirement for the project.

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) officials said Thursday they expect to finalize and implement new permitting requirements for the natural gas industry sometime early next year.

Pennsylvania state Sen. John Yudichak (D-Luzerne County) plans to introduce a resolution that would require a legislative committee to launch a performance evaluation of permitting programs overseen by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), in a move to allay the regulated community’s concerns about agency delays, such as those voiced by the natural gas industry.

U.S. land permitting year-to-date has surpassed the full-year total for 2016, led by nearly irrepressible gains in the Permian Basin of West Texas, according to an analysis.

Williams Partners LP’s Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC (Transco) has received long-awaited water crossing and earth disturbance permits for the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline project, paving the way for a sorely needed 1.7 Bcf/d expansion to serve natural gas producers in northeast Pennsylvania.

Unconventional natural gas well drilling permits in Pennsylvania hit an eight year-low in 2016, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) annual oil and gas report, reflecting what’s viewed as the bottom of the 2014 commodities downturn for Appalachian shale operators.

Oil and natural gas permits to drill on U.S. land have risen “at least” 49% in every major oil producing state from a year ago, with activity also rising in the fringe areas of major shale plays, Evercore ISI said Tuesday.

Compared with one year ago, the U.S. land-based rig count is up 125% as drillers continue returning to their favorite shale patches. Over the same period, the U.S. offshore rig count has languished, up two units during the week ending Friday but still down by one rig from a year ago, according to Baker Hughes Inc.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) has responded to National Fuel Gas Co. (NFG) subsidiaries in a FERC filing, rejecting the companies’ claim that the Northern Access expansion project does not need state permits to begin construction.