Tag: natural gas

Royalty Group to Hold Meetings about Forced Pooling Bill

The West Virginia Royalty Owner’s Association will begin a round of public meetings across the state next week to talk about a piece of controversial legislation.

The meetings held across West Virginia will focus on forced pooling or lease unitization. It’s a practice in the natural gas industry where gas companies parcel of groups of land in an attempt to drill a well.

Under current state law, if a royalty owner refuses to sell their rights to the company, it can’t drill the gas well, but lawmakers attempted to change that during the last legislative session. 

Republican leaders attempted to pass a bill that said if 80 percent of the royalty owners agreed to the well, than the other 20 percent would be forced to sell.

The WVROA will be taking questions about the legislation that is expected to be introduced again in 2016. They’ll hold seven meetings before the end of August. All meetings begin at 6 p.m.:

August 10- Charleston Moose Lodge, Charleston

August 13- Upshur County Moose Lodge, Buckhannon

August 17- Marshall County American Legion, Cameron

August 20- Wood County Moose Lodge, Parkersburg

August 24- Fairmont Middletown Mall, Fairmont

August 27- Glenville Inn, Glenville

August 31- Hancock VFW, New Cumberland

Public Service Commission Final Public Hearing on Rate Increase

The final two public comment hearings on Mountaineer Gas’ proposed rate increase of more than $12.2 million will be held Tuesday in Charleston.

The first hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. the second for 6 p.m. at the West Virginia Public Service Commission’s Office on Brooks Street.

Mountaineer Gas filed the rate increase proposal with the Public Service Commission in January. If approved, residential customers would see an increase on their gas bill of about 5 percent. Commercial customers would see about a 4 percent increase.

Public comment hearings on the increases were also held in Beckley, Huntington and Wheeling last month.

After the Charleston public meeting, the PSC will hold evidentiary hearings Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to decide on the increase.

The commission must file its final opinion by October 30.

Pipeline Fire at Drilling Pad in Tyler County Investigated

State regulators are investigating a pipeline fire at a drilling pad in Tyler County.The fire occurred early Friday at Jay Bee Oil & Gas' Gorby Marcellus…

State regulators are investigating a pipeline fire at a drilling pad in Tyler County.

The fire occurred early Friday at Jay Bee Oil & Gas’ Gorby Marcellus Shale drilling pad in the Big Run area.

West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Jake Glance says there was a rupture in the natural gas pipeline on the pad. He tells The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register that the fire burned for about an hour before it was extinguished.

No injuries were reported.

The newspaper says the fire’s flame could be seen for several miles.

The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined.

Glance says the DEP and the company are investigating.

W.Va. Governor Announces $250K Grant for Pipeline

A Preston County natural gas pipeline project that’s expected to create 25 jobs is receiving a $250,000 state grant.

On Thursday, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin visited the Allegheny Wood Products site in Hazelton to announce the grant.

The money will help extend a natural gas pipeline to the company. It’s expected to help increase lumber production there by 50 percent, from 20 million board feet annually to 30 million board feet.

The additional 25 jobs would increase the plant’s employment by more than 50 percent by the fall.

The gas line should be finished by September.

The extension will let the company replace diesel-powered kilns with natural gas-fueled ones.

The West Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council grant will go to the Preston County Economic Development Authority.

W.Va. Oil & Gas Severance Tax Collections Double in 2014

Despite recent announcements of layoffs in the industry, the state is reporting severance tax incomes from oil and gas have doubled since 2013.

A review by the West Virginia Department of Tax and Revenue and the State Treasurer’s Office shows companies paid $188.3 million in severance taxes in 2014. That’s compared to the $79.2 million collected in 2013.

Ninety-percent of those dollars stay at the state level and are used to help balance the budget. A majority of the final ten percent goes to the gas producing counties. The rest of the funds are spilt between all counties and municipalities in West Virginia.

The Treasurer’s Office reports more than $13 million were paid to counties and cities during an October severance tax distribution. Four counties received more than $1 million in payment during that time, Harrison, Wetzel, Doddridge and Marshall Counties.

According to the head of the state’s oil and natural gas association, the increase in the oil and natural gas severance taxes is a direct result of increased production in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Those rock formations are estimated to contain more than 100 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas.

Company, State Investigate Marshall County Pipeline Ruptures

Williams Energy and state regulators are investigating two natural gas pipeline ruptures that occurred within hours of each other in Marshall County.

Williams spokesman Helen Humphreys tells The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register that the company believes heavy rains were a contributing factor. She says the rains might have destabilized soils.

A 4-inch pipeline ruptured northeast of Glen Dale shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday. Around 10:50 p.m. Thursday, a 12-inch pipeline ruptured along U.S. 250 in the Bane Lane area.

Humphreys says the pipelines were carrying condensate, a mix of petroleum products found in natural gas. She says the company will mitigate any possible environmental effects.

The company and the Department of Environmental Protection were working to determine how much condensate spilled into Little Grave Creek from the 4-inch pipeline.

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