The Marcellus Shale| January 2020
Field Overview
The Marcellus Shale is the largest gas play onshore in the US. Located in the Northeast, it supplies the high demand markets along the East Coast. Most of the basin’s gas is produced through unconventional methods, while the little oil produced is mostly by conventional means. Some of the top formations include Onondaga and the Huntersville.
State Drilling Statistics
Active Drilling Rigs in Basin- 39
Total Rigs in Pennsylvania- 25
Total Rigs in United States- 790
Total U.S. Rigs down 34% YTD
State Top Producers
Top Gas Producer-
Top Oil Producer-
Financial & Economic Updates
Governor Wolf Proposes Increase on Severance Tax to “Restore PA”
A year ago, Wolf announced Restore PA to address issues such as removing blighted buildings, pursuing flood mitigation and remediation, and cleaning up polluted former industrial sites, called “brownfields,” so they can be developed. Restore PA would be funded through a combination of borrowing and a severance tax on natural gas drilling. On Tuesday, Stephanie Catarino Wissman, the executive director of the Associated Petroleum Industries of Pennsylvania, said,“Though Pennsylvania has already collected nearly $1.7 billion in impact taxes since 2012 from Pennsylvania’s natural gas producers, Gov. Wolf continues to press for higher energy taxes on these companies – jeopardizing their very existence in our state,” she said in a statement. “The current impact tax already funds infrastructure and conservation projects throughout Pennsylvania – and in
fact, many of the projects that Gov. Wolf is advocating for are already funded with these dollars.”
State Highlights
PA Among 15 States that Oppose Rail Shipments of LNG
The attorneys general of 15 states said this week that they oppose a Trump administration proposal to allow rail shipments of liquefied natural gas, arguing the trains will share tracks
with passenger trains and travel through congested areas. In their 18 pages of comments submitted Monday, the states said the Trump administration’s proposed rule would put residents, first responders and the environment at greater risk of catastrophic accidents. The rule making by the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration stems from Trump signing an executive order in April that, in addition to seeking to speed up oil and gas pipeline projects, directed the transportation secretary to propose a rule allowing liquefied natural gas to be shipped in approved rail tank cars. The flammable and odorless liquid would be transported “through densely populated areas, potentially in unit trains of up to 100 tank cars operated by just one person, on the same rail lines used by high speed passenger trains, with inadequate safety precautions,” the states said.
PA Supreme Court Leaves Hazy Precedence over Rule of Capture
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled to uphold a legal principle that allows drillers to drain oil and natural gas from outside their property lines. “The parties to the appeal are in agreement — and we concur as well — that the rule of capture remains extant in Pennsylvania, and developers who use hydraulic fracturing may rely on pressure differentials to drain oil and gas from under another’s property, at least in the absence of a physical invasion,” Chief Justice Thomas Saylor wrote. The Supreme Court did not rule on what happens if a fracking operation physically crosses a property boundary, in which case a company could be subject to a trespassing claim. Attorney Robert Burnett said the court “left the door wide open” for a plaintiff if they can prove there was a physical intrusion on the part of a hydraulic fracturing operation.
Top Gas Producers
| Rank | Company | Production (MMscf / Month) |
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| 5 |
Top Oil Producers
| Rank | Company | Production (Bbl) |
| 1 | ||
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| 5 |
Refining
Marcellus Production
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