State

The latest oil/natural gas statistics compiled in North Dakota reveal some hidden beneficiaries of the low commodity price environment in terms of both natural gas capture and the preference of oil pipeline transportation out of the Bakken, state energy officials indicated last Wednesday.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) said late Wednesday that it collected about $187.7 million from the state’s natural gas producers last year, or $35.8 million less than what it collected in 2014 as a result of the steep year-over-year decline in benchmark prices.

Pennsylvania State University has launched a website called Marcellus by Design aimed at helping residents in rural communities learn more about the shale gas drilling that surrounds them and work in related industries.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s spokesman said on Friday that the governor would veto a budget passed by the legislature on Thursday that uses $183 million of Rainy Day reserve funds and $62 million of one-time funds from various state accounts to balance a deficit. The state has been without a 2016-2017 budget since March when lawmakers failed to pass it after they couldn’t agree on tax increases and spending cuts (see Shale Daily,March 15). Instead they relied on the reserve and one-time funds to plug a $270 million shortfall. Tomblin’s office said the budget doesn’t address a $380 million shortfall that’s projected for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 and said tax increases are going to have to be a part of the solution. The state has long relied on coal and natural gas severance taxes to balance its budget, but the commodities downturn has strained its finances. It has already cut state spending on the falling revenues (see Shale Daily,Oct. 6, 2015). The state has projected a significant decline in FY 2016 severance tax collections, reflecting coal’s sustained fall and stagnant gas prices. A special session has been scheduled for June 12. If lawmakers don’t pass a budget by July 1, state government would shut down.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. want a far-reaching lawsuit filed by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s (AG) office to be moved from state to federal court. They accuse the state’s top prosecutor of invoking federal law to recover restitution, civil penalties and court costs for thousands of landowners.

As Bismarck, ND prepared this week for another Williston Basin Petroleum Conference (Tuesday-Thursday), North Dakota oil/natural gas stakeholders continued to deal with the longer-term economic impacts from low commodity prices: thousands of job losses, reduced public sector tax revenues and the need to keep some economic momentum.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said there were no bids placed in an oil and gas lease sale for the Cook Inlet and the Alaska Peninsula on Thursday, marking the first time in state history that there were no bidders for the inlet.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said there were no bids placed in an oil and gas lease sale for the Cook Inlet and the Alaska Peninsula on Thursday, marking the first time in state history that there were no bidders for the inlet.

Siding with the oil/natural gas industry, the Colorado Supreme Court on Monday struck down a ban and moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) by the cities of Longmont and Fort Collins, respectively. The state’s high court affirmed that the local government actions were preempted by state law and therefore were invalid and unenforceable.