West Virginia

An appeals court sided with EQT Corp. this week, affirming a district court’s decision to strike down a West Virginia county’s ordinance banning oil and natural gas wastewater injection wells.

Five environmental groups have filed a petition for review in federal court asking that the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s (WVDEP) water quality certification (WQC) for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) be vacated because they claim the agency ignored the project’s threats to the state’s environment.

A newly formed affiliate of Denver-based Carbon Natural Gas Co. continues to acquire acreage in the Appalachian Basin, announcing Tuesday that it paid an undisclosed seller $21.5 million for natural gas assets in West Virginia.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) has allowed Rover Pipeline LLC to resume construction in Doddridge and Tyler counties following a July cease and desist order. WVDEP cited Rover for noncompliance with its state-issued water pollution control permit. In an order filed to the project docket at FERC, WVDEP said it determined following an inspection on Wednesday the previously cited violations “had been corrected” [CP15-93].

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) has allowed Rover Pipeline LLC to resume construction in Doddridge and Tyler counties following a July cease and desist order. WVDEP cited Rover for noncompliance with its state-issued water pollution control permit. In an order filed to the project docket at FERC, WVDEP said it determined following an inspection on Wednesday the previously cited violations “had been corrected” [CP15-93].

In the midst of a historic budget impasse, West Virginia’s severance tax collections have again provided a glimmer of light, as higher natural gas prices and more coal sales in May helped push state revenue 20% above projections to $350.4 million.

The oil and natural gas industry’s ongoing attempt in West Virginia to get some kind of law passed to gather landowners into large tracts for unconventional horizontal drilling will likely have to wait another year as the latest legislation remains stuck in the House Energy Committee with little time left in the regular session.

Two West Virginia landowners have succeeded in their fight to stop Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) developers from surveying their property without permission after the state Supreme Court ruled in their favor on Tuesday.

Denver-based Carbon Natural Gas Co. has acquired 2,300 gas wells and more than 900 miles of gathering pipelines and associated compression facilities in West Virginia for $9 million. Carbon, which targets mostly shallower formations in the Appalachian and Illinois basins, said those wells are producing 9.3 MMcfe/d. In a regulatory filing, Carbon said it purchased the assets from Exco Resources Inc. subsidiaries and the BG Production Co. Carbon acquired a 95% working interest in the wells, boosting its position to 487,000 net acres company-wide. The company said its average production would increase to 15.3 MMcfe/d with the acquisition. Carbon is traded over-the-counter. It entered a new $100 million credit facility to fund the purchase.