Tag: Antero Resources

Gov. Justice Reiterates Support For W.Va. Natural Gas Drillers As Industry Struggles

West Virginia’s top official says the state is prepared to do “anything” to help the state’s struggling oil and natural gas industry. 

Speaking at the annual winter meeting of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia on Wednesday, Jan. 22, Gov. Jim Justice told the crowd of drillers and producers that his administration believes the industry is vital to the state’s economic health and that he’s in lockstep with the industry in supporting legislative relief. 

“I can’t be any more sympathetic,” Justice said. “I do really believe that we’re doing things to make things better.”

Justice assured the audience he intended to sign House Bill 4091. The bill, which creates an expedited permitting process for drillers, passed in the House and is under consideration in the Senate. 

He also expressed support for H.B. 4090, which reduces the severance tax on low-producing wells and siphons some of the proceeds toward plugging orphaned wells. Justice vetoed a version of the bill that passed last session.

The governor urged natural gas producers to ride out the current record-low gas prices. 

“If you can survive for two or three more years, the opportunity to the upside for you, for this is off the chart. It’s off the blooming chart,” he said. “Because the stars have aligned. Now, it maybe took me a little while to catch up, but I’m there. I’m all in.”

Justice was light on specifics. He mentioned recently speaking with President Donald Trump and representatives from China regarding energy issues and reiterated his support for bringing downstream manufacturers to the region. Last fall, Justice signed an executive order creating a task force aimed at bringing petrochemical manufacturers to the state.

Justice, a businessman whose family operates coal companies across Appalachia, also dismissed the notion the “coal guy” didn’t support the state’s natural gas industry. 

“In some way I’ve been painted into this thing that ‘Well, Justice is a coal guy, he doesn’t really care about gas,’” he said. “It’s so ridiculous. It’s unbelievable.”

He also urged drillers to take their concerns to the Legislature. 

“There are things that are going through our Legislature today. There are things that will help,” he said. “But the biggest thing that you have got, and I will help you in every way, is we have got to convince them of the number of opportunities, jobs and everything that are at stake and how close on the bubble you are to an economic catastrophe.”

Drillers paid $146 million in severance taxes to the state in 2019. Projections for 2020 are $98 million, according to the state tax department. 

‘Running For Our Life’

Some of the state’s largest oil and gas producers also presented at the meeting. Top of mind: low natural gas prices.

“There are days I wonder if I’m working for Blockbuster and don’t know it,” said Al Schopp, regional senior vice president for Antero Resources.

He said in the current low gas price environment, Antero is banking on growing its liquid natural gas exports. He praised the Legislature’s previous work on co-tenancy and urged lawmakers to drop the severance tax on low-producing wells entirely. 

“That’s how we’ll keep the state strong,” he said. “That’s how we keep working.”

Derek Cutwright, senior vice president for Southwestern Energy, expressed similar dismay over the tough economics facing the industry, but said Southwestern is focused on becoming more efficient to stay competitive. 

“The analogy that we’re running for our life in this price environment is pretty accurate,” he said. “It looks grim, but we’ve made progress as an industry.”

W.Va. Supreme Court To Hear Natural Gas Nuisance Case

The West Virginia Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in an appeals case Tuesday that could have major implications for residents living near oil and gas operations.

A group of Harrison County landowners who live near oil and gas sites operated by natural gas companies Antero Resources and Hall Drilling are asking the Supreme Court to require the companies to alter how they drill.

 

They want relief from what they describe as near-constant loud noises, truck traffic and odors.

 

The companies argue state law allows them to do whatever is “reasonably necessary” to extract mineral resources when they own or lease natural gas rights and requiring additional drilling stipulations would be burdensome.

 

In October 2016, the West Virginia Mass Litigation Panel, which consists of seven circuit court judges that are appointed by the Chief Justice to resolve cases where many plaintiffs sue one defendant, ruled in favor of Antero and Hall Drilling.

 

The landowners are appealing. The eventual ruling by the Supreme Court could have widespread impacts — hundreds of similar cases are pending in courts across the state.

 

The case was slated to be heard last fall, but was delayed after attorneys representing the landowners asked Justice Evan Jenkins to recuse himself because of a potential conflict of interest. In the petition, the landowners’ legal team argued the “counsel of record” for defendant Antero Resources, Ancil Ramey, also recently represented Jenkins in a lawsuit that sought to invalidate his interim appointment to the Supreme Court.

Ramey said his role in Antero case is “minor.” Jenkins ultimately declined to recuse himself.

 

Two other justices, Tim Armstead and John Hutchison, have recused themselves. Court filings on the recusals do not specify reasons, however, Hutchison previously servied on the Mass Litigation Panel and Armstead served as council for another oil and gas company.

Motion Filed to Remove Justice Jenkins from Upcoming Natural Gas Case

This story was updated at 11:15 a.m. on 10/4/18

Lawyers representing a handful of Harrison County landowners in an upcoming case set to be heard by the West Virginia Supreme Court are asking Justice Jenkins to recuse himself.

In the motion filed Tuesday, attorneys for the landowners argue Jenkins should remove himself from an an upcoming appeals case because of a potential conflict of interest.

“Appellants’ Motion to Disqualify is not done lightly and in no way should be viewed as an attach on Justice Jenkins,” the document states. “Rather, recusal is required because his counsel, who appeared in this Court barely a week ago as counsel for Justice Jenkins is counsel of record for respondent Antero.”

The case, set to be heard Tuesday in front of the high court, centers around a series of nuisance cases brought by landowners who live near oil and gas operations carried out by Antero Resources and Hall Drilling.

The landowners have asked the court to require the companies to alter how they drill to reduce what they describe as near-constant loud noises, truck traffic and odors that are a result of drilling operations.

The companies say state law allows them to do whatever is “reasonably necessary” to extract mineral resources when they own or lease natural gas rights. In October 2016, the West Virginia Mass Litigation Panel, which consists of seven circuit court judges that are appointed by the Chief Justice to resolve cases where many plaintiffs sue one defendant, ruled in favor of Antero and Hall Drilling. The landowners have appealed.

In the petition, the landowners’ legal team say the “counsel of record” for defendant Antero Resources, Ancil Ramey, also recently represented Jenkins in a lawsuit that sought to invalidate his interim appointment to the Supreme Court. They argue the connection could pose a conflict of interest.

The lawyers argue the case is ongoing and it remains unknown how involved Jenkins will be with Ramey.

Ramey is a partner at the law firm Steptoe & Johnson, which the motion said has donated thousands of dollars to Jenkins’ congressional races since 2014. In the response filed this week, Ramey said he has personally never contributed to any election campaign of Jenkins. He also said neither Steptoe & Johnson PLLC nor its affiliated Steptoe & Johnson Good Government Fund have contributed to Jenkins’ campaigns for House of Representatives. He said the fund has not and will not contribute to Jenkins’ judicial election campaign or any other judicial campaigns.

The legal team representing Antero Resources filed a response Wednesday pushing back on a motion to remove Justice Evan Jenkins from an upcoming Supreme Court case dealing with natural gas drilling rights.

In the response, Ramey refuted some of the evidence presented by lawyers representing Harrison County landowners including that he is the lead counsel in the upcoming case.

Ramey also said neither he, nor anyone from his law firm Steptoe & Johnson, is currently representing Jenkins “in any matter.” He argues his two-week representation of Jenkins in a case that sought to invalidate his interim appointment to the Supreme Court concluded before Jenkins was sworn in and should not disqualify the justice from participating in the upcoming case.

Ramey confirmed he is part of the legal team representing Antero Resources, but in an email, he said his role is “minor” and he will not be conducting the oral arguments for the case.

Jenkins, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives for three years, was sworn in as an interim justice on the bench of the high court on Monday.

Agreement Reached on West Virginia Fracking Landfill

Environmentalists have reached an agreement with Antero Treatment that calls for monitoring for radioactivity and bromide around its landfill in northern West Virginia that takes the waste from recycled groundwater used in hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.

It settles an appeal by the West Virginia Rivers Coalition and West Virginia Highlands Conservancy of the state permit for the landfill, which takes salt byproducts from Antero’s adjacent wastewater recycling facility. Both are located on 447 acres in Ritchie and Doddridge counties.

The environmental groups say the permit allows discharging stormwater runoff and associated pollutants into tributaries of the Hughes River upstream within 5 miles of Harrisville’s public water system intake.

“This is one example of how the state is tasked with evaluating new sources of pollution brought about by the fracking boom,” said Angie Rosser, executive director of West Virginia Rivers Coalition. “We need to find out sooner rather than later if we’re seeing harmful things, like radioactivity, affecting our water supplies.”

The groups say the compound bromide is known to cause problems for treating drinking water.

According to Denver-based parent company Antero Resources Corp., about 95 percent of the water it uses for fracking will be treated at the recycling facility, nearly eliminating the need for wastewater disposal wells and reducing withdrawals from West Virginia’s waterways. Salt will constitute about 92 percent of all solid byproducts, it said.

The company drills for natural gas in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Antero Treatment and Antero Resources did not immediately reply to a request for comment Tuesday.

The agreement signed Dec. 8 requires one initial year of monitoring for radioactivity in materials entering the landfill and in groundwater monthly, as well as regular monitoring for bromide and solids in surface water discharges.

That includes a monthly lab analysis of salt samples from a truck that passed through the landfill’s radiation detection equipment. If two or more lab samples significantly deviate from the detection equipment measurements, Antero will conduct an additional year of sampling.

If any monthly groundwater sampling for radium is significantly higher than background levels, the agreement says Antero will conduct another year of that sampling.

West Virginia Officials Propose $93K Fine for Antero

West Virginia environmental officials have proposed a $93,000 fine on an Antero Resources natural gas company for polluting waterways.

In a consent order, state Department of Environmental Protection and Antero Midstream LLC agreed earlier this month on the proposed fines for northern West Virginia pipeline activity.

The order says Antero pipeline projects in Ritchie, Pleasants, Doddridge and Tyler caused pollution in nearby waterways in 2013 and 2014, among other issues.

Antero Resources is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

Doddridge County Gas Well Site Shut Down Following Fire

State regulators say four Antero Resources natural gas wells in Doddridge County will remain idle while investigators examine a recent fire.

Department of Environmental Protection Kelly Gillenwater tells The Exponent Telegram that there were no injuries from the early Thursday fire, and no material appears to have spilled outside the containment area at the site near West Union, about 75 miles south of Wheeling.

Antero said in a news release that the cause of the fire is still unknown.

Antero Chief Administrative Officer and Regional Senior Vice President Al Schopp says the company reported the fire to state regulators and voluntarily shut down the wells prior to the cease-operation order being issued.

Gillenwater says investigators are still evaluating whether any citations will be necessary.

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