Whip

Looking to shore up county, municipal and school district budgets without raising taxes on residents, Pennsylvania House Majority Whip Bill DeWeese (D-Greene County) is turning to Marcellus Shale oil and natural gas producers to foot the bill. He has introduced legislation that would allow counties to assess value to natural gas, oil and coalbed methane resources before they are produced and tax the producers.

The cash market on Wednesday was jerked around like a bull whip by its out-of-control master, the gas futures market on the New York Mercantile Exchange. As futures popped nearly 40-cents higher at the open and soared to the incredible height of $7.55 Wednesday morning before collapsing shortly thereafter, the cash market was dragged behind, albeit at a significant distance. The run-up produced massive trading ranges as sellers scrambled to unload what they could before the show was over.