"Pennsylvania Governor-elect Tom Corbett says one of his first acts in office will be to lift a moratorium on Marcellus Shale gas-drilling permits on state lands -- a move that would reverse a drilling halt imposed by outgoing Gov. Ed Rendell. ...

As to the moratorium on gas drilling on state lands, Mr. Corbett declared Gov. Rendell's moratorium order blatantly wrong.

"These people bought these leases with an expectation of being able to drill as long as they adequately presented papers to get their permits and they ought to be able to get their permits," he said. ..."
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10307/1100246-100.stm

What's "blatantly wrong" is the claim that the moratorium is on drilling permits,  The moratorium is on new leasing of state forest land.  It doesn't impact existing leases or land where the state doesn't own the mineral rights.  
.

Views: 149

Replies to This Discussion

Yeah; I read that quote from Corbett somewhere and said "huh?" because I also thought the moratorium was on NEW leasing. I've read that Corbett was the candidate that got the most campaign money from the gas industry, so I don't think many landowner-friendly things will be coming out of Harrisburg.
He doesn't have any legislative record, so we don't know his "when push comes to shove" position on the issues. But he did make a no new taxes pledge. Without a severance tax, the only way for the state to make more money from the MS is to lease more state land. Which revenue, unlike a severance tax, would be unlikely to be shared with local government. Also, it would be more competition for private landowners waiting for their gas to be extracted/marketed.

Here are the donation numbers: http://www.marcellusmoney.org/candidates
I'm hoping that no severance tax also means no forced pooling, since Rendell was going to give the industry forced pooling to compensate for the severance tax.
What Rendell said was that he would consider forced pooling, but there would be no "quid pro". And Hanger followed up by specifying that the legislation would have to include a minimum spacing requirement and an "attractive royalty". Imo, what finished it off was Republicans wary about openly supporting "eminent domain" right before the election.

RSS

© 2024   Created by Keith Mauck (Site Publisher).   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service