Unconventional Gas and Oil Is Center Stage as Regulators and Energy Industry Act to Expand North American Production and Infrastructure

摘要

More than half of the natural gas drillers operating in the Marcellus Shale missed the deadline to report the production levels of their wells in violation of state law, according to Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). DEP Secretary John Hanger said that 41 of the 74 oil and gas companies operating in the Marcellus Shale, or 55%, did not submit reports on the past 12 months of production by the August 15 deadline. "When the General Assembly approved this law and the Governor signed it, they did so because they believed this requirement provided much-needed transparency into the industry's operations," said Hanger. "The fact that so many companies failed to meet the deadline for providing this information is troubling. We plan to follow-up with each non-compliant firm and pursue whatever enforcement action is necessary to get them to follow the law." The website includes a complete list of operators that did not submit production reports on time. The list of the Marcellus operators that submitted production reports on time is also provided. The new law required gas companies drilling into the Marcellus formation to report production totals from 7/1/09 to 6/30/10 by August 15. Subsequent to this deadline, companies will be required to report production every six months, making the next report due February 15. Prior to the change in the law, DEP was required to keep production reporting data confidential for five years. For more information or to view the production reports of companies that met the deadline, visit www.depweb.state.pa.us.