Permits

Pennsylvania Republican Senate leaders have sent a letter to the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) questioning its plans for a new general permit for unconventional well sites and general permit revisions for natural gas compressor facilities. Senate President Joe Scarnati, Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman and Sen. Gene Yaw, chairman of the energy committee, wrote the agency to say they fear the proposed revisions could jeopardize the industry’s competitiveness. They sent a series of questions asking what justifies the permits and what cost-benefit analysis has been conducted, among other things. The letter follows another from Republican state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe earlier this month accusing the agency of skirting the state’s Regulatory Review Act in opening the permits for public comment. The permits are part of Gov. Tom Wolf’s plans to reduce oil and gas industry emissions. The proposals would also affect remote pigging stations, transmission stations and processing plants. DEP has said it is still early in the process and that it will continue to work with the industry on the changes.

Sunoco Logistics Partners LP can start construction of the Mariner East (ME) 2 pipeline — a natural gas liquids project that’s been in the works for years — after the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) late Monday approved 20 key permits.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said Thursday it will postpone for two months a rule to make online the default method for filing permits for oil and natural gas drilling.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) has issued two wastewater discharge permits and a 401 Water Quality Certification to a subsidiary of PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) pcl for its proposed ethane cracker in Belmont County, OH. The permits would allow the facility to discharge wastewater into the Ohio River and storm water into a stream and the river. The agency said PTTGC plans to select one of those to develop. The water quality certificate would allow the discharge of dredged or fill material into streams and wetlands during construction. OEPA said the permits require stronger monitoring requirements and more “detailed analysis” of wastewater intake structures. PTTGC has signed purchase options for nearly 500 acres along the river in Mead Township and invested $100 million for preliminary design work. The company is expected to make a final investment decision sometime early this year.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) reissued 50 existing nationwide permits (NWP), general conditions (GC) and definitions on Friday, a process completed every five years that the corps said will streamline the requirements of the Clean Water Act (CWA).

U.S. land permits for oil and gas development jumped 6% from November to December, the second highest monthly permit total in 2016 and an unlikely departure for the usually slow holiday season. The accelerated permitting activity is predicted to lead to an onshore rig count that’s higher in 2017 than many experts are predicting.

Anyone doing the mannequin challenge in the Permian Basin in recent days ran the risk of a drilling rig landing on top of them. Drillers again voted with their bits during the week ending Friday, opting — as they have previously — for oil from the Texas side of the Permian Basin.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit this week ruled that New Jersey and Pennsylvania regulators did not “act arbitrarily or capriciously” in issuing water quality permits and related authorizations for Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC’s (Transco) Leidy Southeast Expansion Project.

A subsidiary of EnLink Midstream Partners LP is holding a binding open season through Aug. 10 to gauge interest in the proposed Greater Chickadee crude oil gathering system to be built in the Permian Basin of Texas. The system, to include more than 150 miles of high- and low-pressure pipelines, would have origin points in Upton and Midland counties and destination points at two terminals in Midland County. EnLink expects to spend $70-80 million for the project, which could be operational in 2017. Preliminary design is to include multiple central tank batteries and pump, truck injection and storage stations. Design capacity would be determined by shipper commitments. Details are available atenlink.com/crudeopenseasonor by contacting Rick Van Eyk at (713) 739-3244 or rick.vaneyk@enlink.com.