The Daily Digger

From Law 360: Leading progressive Democrats have introduced what they say is Congress’ first-ever proposal to ban fracking across the United States, with immediate limits ramping up to total prohibition by 2025.  The Fracking Ban Act was introduced Friday by Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent among the top Democratic presidential contenders, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the first-term New York liberal with a focus on climate change. Although unlikely to become law this year, with Republicans controlling the Senate and the White House, the measure may forecast how a progressive Democratic administration would approach energy policy.  “If we are serious about clean air and drinking water, if we are serious about combating climate change, the only safe and sane way to move forward is to ban fracking nationwide,” Sanders said in a statement Friday.  Fracking is an abbreviated term for hydraulic fracturing, which is a production technique that typically...

There continues to be no end in sight for the ongoing will-they or won't-they drama over the possible construction of a cracker plant in Belmont County. Over the past couple of weeks the proposed cracker plant has remained in the news, but the latest comments from PTT Global Chemical reveal that there is still no final decision made as to whether the plant will actually be built.  So in the meantime, the possibility continues to exist that the money that has been spent preparing the site, grants that have been awarded, wooing by local officials, and hand-wringing by anti-oil and gas activists is all much ado about nothing.  It is hard to imagine that PTT would come this far and have invested this much money without actually building the plant, but with nearly 5 years expired since they first announced that this project was a possibility, it's anybody's guess at this point what will actually happen. Here is the latest news.  First, from The Intelligencer: Some concer...

WEEK ENDING 02/01/20 New permits issued last week:   6  (Previous week:  11 )   -5 Total horizontal permits issued:  3190  (Previous week:  3184 )    +6 Total horizontal wells drilled:  2712  (Previous week:  2711 )   +1 Total horizontal wells producing:  2434  (Previous week:  2434 )   +-0 Utica rig count:  12  (Previous week:  11 )   +1 WEEK ENDING 02/08/20 New permits issued last week:   2  (Previous week:  6 )   -4 Total horizontal permits issued:  3192  (Previous week:  3190 )    +2 Total horizontal wells drilled:  2713  (Previous week:  2712 )   +1 Total horizontal wells producing:  2443  (Previous week:  2434 )   +9 Utica rig count:  12  (Previous week:  12 )   +-0

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WEEK ENDING 01/25/20 New permits issued last week:   11  (Previous week:  2 )   +9 Total horizontal permits issued:  3184  (Previous week:  3184 )    +-0 Total horizontal wells drilled:  2711  (Previous week:  2711 )   +-0 Total horizontal wells producing:  2434  (Previous week:  2431 )   +3 Utica rig count:  11  (Previous week:  11 )   +-0

by Nicole Jacobs, Energy in Depth Rolling Stone  author Justin Nobel has been spending a lot of time in the Appalachian Basin recently, and not because some of the biggest bands in history will be touring here this year, as one would expect from the music magazine. Instead, Nobel has been conducting a  tour of his own , amplifying “Keep It In the Ground” research and messaging, and writing his  latest misleading hit piece  on the oil and natural gas industry. His latest article claims that the industry is knowingly exposing workers and communities to high levels of radiation through the produced water and solids that result from drilling. And while he peppers in statements from regulatory officials, the overall image he paints is a false one, of an unregulated industry, despite this being one of the most regulated industries in the country. Here are three key things to keep in mind when reading the  Rolling Stone  article: Fact #1: This isn’t the ...