STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, DIVISION OF NATURAL RESOURCES, OFFICE OF LAND & STREAMS, 324 4th AVENUE, ROOM 200, SOUTH CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA 25303.

TELEPHONE : (304) 558-3225, DIVISION OF NATURAL RESOURCES

OIL & GAS RESOURCES BID PROSPECTUS FOR LEASING AND PRODUCTION:

A prospectus on the oil and gas resources beneath the waters of the Ohio River located in Pleasants, Marshall and Wetzel Counties, West Virginia. Keith Burdette, Secretary West Virginia Department of Commerce; Frank Jezioro, Director West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.

I.            Introduction

The State of West Virginia, through the Division of Natural Resources, holds title to certain lands and mineral resources in the state. The Division of Natural Resources administers and manages those lands in order to provide a comprehensive program for the conservation, development, protection, enjoyment, and use of the natural resources of the state by its citizens and visitors.

The Division of Natural Resources, may lease coal, oil, gas, sand, gravel under its control and management for proper development and production, all in accordance with Chapter 20, Article 1, Section 7, Paragraph 14.

The Division of Natural Resources in its endeavors of managing its real estate resources has decided to lease, by competitive bidding process, the oil and gas resources for development and production from beneath the waters of the Ohio River, beginning at mile post 155 to 145; mile post 116 to108 and mile post 121 to 125 in Pleasants, Marshall and Wetzel Counties, West Virginia.

II.            Location of Resources

SUBJECT TO THE RESTRICTIONS ESTABLISHED BY THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS, WV DNR AND WV DEP.
This lease prospectus includes the following oil and gas resources located beneath the waters of the Ohio River in Pleasants, Marshall and Wetzel Counties, West Virginia, more specifically located and shown on the maps included with this prospectus.

III.            Production and Assurance of Maintaining Environmental Integrity

Production of the Division of Natural Resources oil and gas resources beneath the waters of the Ohio River shall be by environmentally sound methods: and procedures will be reviewed by the Department of Commerce, Division of Natural Resources in addition to all other federal and state agencies which may have jurisdiction and/or regulatory control and enforcement authority over such oil and or gas resources and production activities.

Also, the Division of Natural Resources oil and gas resources shall be developed and produced by the successful bidder and/or bidders in a prudent manner, efficiently, economically, without waste, and in the best interest of the State of West Virginia, Department of Commerce, Division of Natural Resources with all diligence and in a workmanlike manner in accordance with the best, most up-to-date oil and or gas producing methods.

IV.           Minimum Bid

The Division of Natural resources requires a standard royalty of 20% or 1/5 to develop its oil and gas resources.

Bids shall be for a cash bonus for each tract on a per acre basis. Leases will be awarded to the highest bidder and based upon the Director’s determination the bidder will operate responsibly and develop the prospect that protects the interest of the State of West Virginia.

The Division of Natural Resources will consider any other form of consideration.

V.            Bid Submission and Cut-off Date

All written sealed bids shall be received by the Department of Commerce, Office of the Secretary by 3:30 p.m. eastern time on Thursday, September 25, 2014, at 1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East, State Capitol, Building 6, Room 525, Charleston, West Virginia 25305- 0311.

VI.          Bid Opening and Review

The Department of Commerce, Office of the Secretary will hold a public opening of all bids on Friday, September 26, 2014, at 1:00 p.m. in Room 525 at its office at 1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East, State Capitol Complex, Building 6, Charleston, West Virginia, 25305-0311. Thereafter, the Department of Commerce, Division of Natural Resources will review all bid proposals. The Department of Commerce, Division of Natural Resources reserves the right to reject any and all bids.

VII.         Bidder Registration Form

Each individual bid shall include as a part of their bid package the completed attached bidder registration and submission forms to assist the DNR in its evaluation of the bidding entity to determine if their technical expertise and economic resources are sufficient to carry out their proposal.

VIII.           Bid Award

The Department of Commerce, Division of Natural Resources will notify the successful bidder of their bid acceptance no later than two week s from the bid closing date.

IX.            Limitation of Warranty

The Division of Natural Resources is considered to be the owner of the oil and gas resources, but makes no warranty as to the presence of said resources or any specific amounts.

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See also: WV Department of Commerce, Properties Actively Out for Bid.

400 ppm CO2 is too high

Bill McKibben Says No to Big Oil and Gas Companies

From a Program of Bill Moyers & Company, PBS, February 6, 2014

After the State Department issued a long-awaited environmental impact statement on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline last week, environmentalists and those opposed to the 1,179-mile pipeline have intensified their push for the Obama administration to reject the project.

This week, Bill Moyers talks with Bill McKibben, an activist who has dedicated his life to saving the planet from environmental collapse, about his hopes that Americans will collectively pressure Obama to stand up to big oil.

“Most people understand that we’re in a serious fix,” McKibben tells Moyers, “There’s nothing you can do as individuals that will really slow down this juggernaut … You can say the same thing about the challenges faced by people in the civil rights or the abolition movement, or the gay rights movement or the women’s movement. In each case, a movement arose; if we can build a movement, then we have a chance.”

IMPORTANT: See the 27 minute VIDEO of the McKibben interview here.

Wet Gas By-Product Storage Tanks

Local Shale Industry Spending Ramping Up Rapidly

 >> Construction expenditures for the area take a huge jump from 2012

From an Article By Casey Junkins, Wheeling Intelligencer, 01/14/14

 WHEELING – Powered by extensive Marcellus and Utica shale processing and pipelining infrastructure, the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area saw construction investments grow from $60.3 million in 2012 to $1.72 billion in 2013. “I see another 5-10 years of construction like this,” said Keith Hughes, business manager at Ironworkers Local No. 549 in Wheeling. “It has been tremendous for our area and we appreciate all of the work we are getting.”

Williams Energy will eventually invest a total of $4.5 billion for Utica and Marcellus shale natural gas processing infrastructure in Marshall County, while Blue Racer Midstream and MarkWest Energy continue working on similar ambitious projects throughout the Upper Ohio Valley. Simultaneously, new hotels are opening at The Highlands, in St. Clairsville and in Morristown to accommodate those individuals now working in the shale regions.

It all adds up to show that construction in the Ohio (WV), Marshall (WV) and Belmont (OH) counties – collectively known as the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area – grew to $1.72 billion in 2013. According to McGraw Hill Construction, the same area saw only $60.3 million worth of construction in 2012.

McGraw Hill tracks and analyzes construction trends throughout the nation. The company’s data shows that 2013 saw $1.7 billion worth of “non-residential” construction in the MSA, up from $54.3 million in 2012. Non-residential building includes offices, hotels, retail outlets, warehouses, manufacturing, education, hospitals and government buildings and infrastructure. The remaining amounts for both years are for “residential” building – $10.8 million in 2013 and $6 million in 2012.

The numbers could be even more impressive next year, as construction does not seem to be slowing. In Marshall County, the Williams company has three sites of operation: the Fort Beeler processing plant; the Oak Grove processing plant; and the Moundsville fractionation plant. While each of these sites are in some level of operation, the company continues building at each site, with most of these efforts now focused on the Oak Grove facility.

Once all projects are up and running, they will work as a cohesive unit to separate the liquid portions of the natural gas stream from the dry portions. Williams officials believe they will be able to process at least 2.5 billion cubic feet on natural gas per day.

In April 2012, Williams paid about $2.3 billion to acquire the Fort Beeler cryogenic processing plant – which can be seen along U.S. 250 between Moundsville and Cameron – and the other Marshall County operations of Caiman Energy. Williams is now in the midst of expanding with an additional $2.2 billion expenditure.

Williams spokeswoman Helen Humphreys said her company performed $1.64 billion worth of new construction in 2013, with plans to build $1.3 billion more this year. Hughes said the union appreciates Williams. ”We have 40 ironworkers out at Oak Grove right now,” Hughes said. “We are also doing work for MarkWest and Blue Racer. It is really a boon for us and for the whole area.”

MarkWest has invested $2.2 billion into pipelines, processing and fractionation plants in the region. MarkWest expanded its Majorsville facility in eastern Marshall County in 2013, via supply agreements with Consol Energy and Noble Energy. MarkWest also started a second de-ethanizer at the Majorsville site. Blue Racer continued building onto the Marshall County Natrium plant and its pipeline network in 2013 until a September 21, 2013 fire. (That facility has not yet resumed operation.)

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U.S. oil & gas industry to invest $890B in infrastructure to 2025

From an Article By Katherine Lymn, Forum News Service, January 9, 2014

The U.S. oil and gas industry is investing confidently in infrastructure the near future, according to a recent report on infrastructure investments. Those investments, of a projected $890 billion over the next 12 years, will pump the national economy with hundreds of thousands of jobs along with the ripple effects of a workforce with more spending money.

“It’s a time of optimism for the industry,” said James Fallon, director of downstream energy consulting at IHS Global Inc., which did the study. The investments will break down into an especially strong year this year, carrying over from a “banner year” in 2013, and will sustain at annual investments of at least $80 billion in midstream and downstream infrastructure until 2020.

The report noted developing shale formation areas will require more extensive investments in gathering and support facilities because they are not historic production regions. That issue is ever present in the minds of Bakken industry players as flaring of natural gas, which often occurs because of a lack of a pipeline hookup to transport the gas, becomes a top problem.

The study said pipelines will be the primary mover of oil and gas despite other methods increasing in popularity as of late. Investments in crude oil pipelines increased from $1.6 billion in 2010 to $6.6 billion last year.

North Dakota is seeing ripple effects across the state, such as the fertilizer plants in Jamestown and Grand Forks, and the manufacturing industry in Fargo where oilfield equipment is built. There’s also the ripple economic effect that comes from the increased workforce. “They need to eat somewhere, they need to sleep somewhere, they need places to refill their vehicles, they need leisure activities,” Fallon said.

An overall theme of the changing infrastructure is a shift in the focus of the industry toward exports away from the historical infrastructure supporting imports, a relic of the now outdated focus on getting oil from elsewhere.

PennFuture Facts: Vol. 14, No. 20 — October 25, 2012:

 ”The sounds of silence“

It’s as if they all forgot about the record-breaking heat, droughts, floods, wildfires, and other extreme weather events over the last few months. September was the 331st straight month with above-average temperatures worldwide, and the 36th straight September with a global temperature above the 20th century average. Extreme weather has gotten more extreme, and more expensive, with the prominent insurers crediting it as the leading edge of global warming. Arctic sea ice the size of Canada and Texas combined melted away this summer. And scientists are warning that we have reached the tipping point on climate change.

But with all this evidence — not just from scientists, but from the personal experiences of citizens both home and abroad — not one word was uttered in any of the presidential and vice presidential debates on climate change. This was the first time since climate change was identified in the ’80s that the debates failed to include discussion of global warming. Even when the moderator in the last debate asked, “What do you believe is the greatest future threat to the national security of this country?” — an obvious opening for a longer, more fulsome response than simply identifying one part of the world or one particular group — neither Gov. Mitt Romney nor President Barack Obama said a word about climate. Instead, the people of the world were treated to silence.

This silence occurred as people in the United States are increasingly saying they believe that global climate change is happening, and that it caused by our behavior. Over two-thirds of Americans say there is solid evidence that the earth’s average temperature has been getting warmer over the past few decades. And only one in five thinks this is happening naturally.

Belief in global warming crosses party lines. Fully 85 percent of Democrats say there is solid evidence that the average temperature has been getting warmer. Nearly half of Republicans (48 percent) agree, as does a majority of independents (65 percent). It’s clear that it isn’t public opinion that is keeping the candidates from mentioning climate.

But there has been a sea change in the political dialogue in the past four years. What’s different? The tea party and the Citizens United Supreme Court decision.

The tea party, whose original organizing funding came from the fossil fuel industry through Americans for Prosperity, has created a reign of terror against any scientist, elected official, or candidate who might speak in favor of taking action to combat global warming. They have led the harassment of climate scientists online, in the media, and in person. They have shouted down anyone who disagrees with them. And in 2010, they systematically defeated incumbents who believe that we must take action on global warming — particularly Republicans — making support for fossil fuels and opposition to science litmus tests.

Under the 2010 Citizens United decision, corporations are able to invest unlimited and unreported money into political ads. Forming so-called 527 groups (named after the pertinent IRS code), which operate independent of political party organizations, the groups have become major financial players in presidential and congressional campaigns, spending tens of millions of dollars to try to influence directly who wins and who loses. The debate has been framed by many of these groups as a war on coal vs. action on climate change and funding for renewable energy.

All of this has created a chilling effect, and nowhere is it more dramatically seen than in the debates and in the presidential campaign.

Two years ago, Gov. Romney spoke about global warming in his book, “No Apology,” saying he believed global warming was real and was at least in part caused by human activity. In the intervening two years, the Romney position has changed to denying climate change is occurring, pushing for more mining and drilling, attacking EPA clean air regulations, and calling for an end to all government investment in renewable energy.

President Obama calls climate change real, and has taken some action to mitigate global warming. Under his watch, EPA has proposed restrictions on air pollution from coal-fired power plants. He has proposed new clean vehicle standards. He is fighting to renew the tax credit American wind companies need to succeed. And he is funding other renewable energy research. But more needs to be done.

In 2012, it is unconscionable that the people running to lead our nation are failing to even discuss one of the most dangerous problems our world is facing, let alone take comprehensive action. As we look back on this year, we’ll be stunned by the sounds of silence.

>>> PennFuture Facts is a biweekly publication available for reprint in newspapers and other publications.
Authors are available for print or broadcast interviews.  For more information, please contact call 717-214-7920, or email  info@pennfuture.org.  >>>

State Hiring Regulations Are Problematic Regarding Experience and Pay Rates

Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said it’s on pace to hire more gas well inspectors following the passage of the Natural Gas Horizontal Well Control Act. But two hiring obstacles still remain: Low pay and an experience prerequisite. Higher permitting fees in the new legislation, DEP spokesman Tom Aluise said, were intended to generate money to hire 14 new Office of Oil and Gas (OOG) staffers — including four inspectors. So far, two inspector positions have been filled, with five left — which includes some previous vacancies. DEP expects to fill them within the next six months. “We knew it was going to take a while,” Aluise said.

They expected it to take about a year, though it might run a bit longer based on the six-month projection. When all the spots are filled, Aluise said, DEP will have 21 inspectors and two supervisors. The OOG staff list now shows 14 inspectors. Inspectors work certain areas — a single county or group of counties. A new hire is working the Brooke-Hancock-Ohio county region of the Northern Panhandle, while another is working Marshall County. Openings remain for Dodd, Tyler, Mingo-Wayne-Cabell, Lewis and Braxton counties. Inspectors have to meet certain qualifications and pass a test, Aluise said. Despite the new legislation intended to increase the candidate pool, “the application numbers haven’t been great,” Aluise said. The current applicant list has 12 qualified people.

The Horizontal Well Control Act raised starting pay to $35,000 for inspectors and $40,000 for supervisors, but it’s still not competitive with industry pay, Aluise said. During the months of negotiations on the Act, industry and DEP officials often said people with the same qualifications can start at $60,000 to $70,000 a year. Inspector qualifications were also subject to intense negotiations. The Act whittled it down from the previous six years’ industry experience to two — with one year credit for those with a bachelor’s degree in science or engineering, an associate degree in petroleum technology or relevant environmental experience.  Even one year of experience is still a hiring hurdle, Aluise said. Someone with a four-year degree can’t get a job. They have discussed asking the Legislature to lift that requirement. “We feel like we could train people,” Aluise said.

The Dominion Post asked OOG Chief Jim Martin if the new hires would be sufficient to monitor all the state’s gas wells — conventional and unconventional. Martin said the new hire numbers are specific to act requirements. Whether it’ll be adequate for the big picture is “something we’ll have to look at down the road.” They need to get them all on board and see how it pans out. “The activity level at the time is a critical component,” he said. 

During Joint Select Committee discussions of the legislation, some said there are too many wells for too few inspectors. Others said that while there are a lot of wells, not all of them need regular, or even annual, monitoring. According to OOG data, 50,586 active gas wells of all types are in the state — 952 of them Marcellus wells. It gets complicated, because not all horizontal wells are controlled by the Act, which covers wells that disturb three acres or more of land and use 210,000 gallons or more of water in a 30-day period.

In 2010, DEP issued 504 vertical well permits and 445 horizontal. In 2011, the numbers were 275 vertical, 542 horizontal.  So far this year, DEP issued 271 permits for horizontal wells covered by the Act — called 6A wells for the portion of the new legislation containing the Act: Section 22 Article 6A.

OOG charts the number 6A permits issued each month. The numbers were 0 in January and February, three each for March and April, 37, May; 56, June; 57, July; 60, August; 55, September. Aluise noted that doesn’t reflect all gas well permitting for the year. For instance, in January and February, DEP issued 32 total vertical permits and 92 total horizontal permits not covered under the Act. Aluise confirmed that the 0 6A permits in January and February stems from an adjustment period following the December 2011 legislation.

Facing Up to Energy Addiction

By Mary Wildfire

Forty years ago, I watched a junkie shoot up. He melted some white powder in a spoon and put the liquid in a syringe, then tied a rubber cord around his arm, pulling it tight with his teeth, before injecting the contents of the syringe. I haven’t thought about it in years, but lately that image keeps coming into my mind as I observe all the happy talk about the “new” energy sources that are “making America energy-independent.”

While there have been some advances, it’s primarily the high price of conventional oil that has spurred the shale gas drilling boom, the extraction of oil from tar sands, and the big expansion in offshore drilling, including the drilling about to commence in the Arctic–ironically now available because of the global warming the oil companies deny. Together with the continuation of mountaintop removal coal mining, what all these technologies have in common is desperation… reminiscent of the desperation that drove that junkie to shoot up, despite the horrified gaze of a sixteen year old girl. He took just a small dose, just enough to “get well”… meaning to beat back the symptoms of withdrawal.

Similarly, it’s only because of the high price of conventional oil that these extreme technologies are moving forward. Given the dwindling supply of light sweet crude, and the rapidly rising demand in populous India and China, the price is unlikely to come down again for long. Fracking, drilling in deep water and the Arctic, the production and piping of tar sands oil, and mountaintop removal coal mining have high costs both in terms of bankrolling the operations, and in terms of risk—often, risk to the safety and health of the workers, but also to the environment. There seems to be broad agreement that we can deal with the threat to the environment by pretending it doesn’t exist.

It is utter madness to keep frantically pumping fossil fuels out of the ground by any means possible when we know we’re close to the threshold of catastrophic climate change — not to mention all the other harms done by drilling in the extreme environment of the Arctic, and/or under deep water. Or pumping toxic compounds mixed with millions of gallons of precious fresh water, deep underground. Or using Canada’s fresh water and natural gas to turn nasty chunks of bitumen into a sludgy compound just capable of being pumped through leaky pipes over critical aquifers to refineries thousands of miles away. Or exploding mountaintops and burying the nearby streams under the rubble.

Are we so desperate for a continuing fix of cheap fossil energy that we knowingly do such extreme damage to our only planet? Collectively, we’re pulling that rubber cord with our teeth, and bringing the needle full of filthy tar sands oil closer to the vein…

Is there no alternative? What about the clean, renewable energy sources, primarily wind and solar but potentially including a component of tidal power, geothermal and others? Why do we still get such a small percentage of our power needs from these? If we take the “externalities” into account — if we were to add all the costs of each source to the bill, including such things as buried streams, air pollution, climate change, trashed landscapes in Alberta, the health costs of those living near wells and mines, earthquakes caused by injection of fracking waste fluids, and that vague but real emotional stress felt by virtually everyone alive today as we contemplate what we’re leaving to our children — then surely the clean sources are already cheaper. Moreover, building a large number of new windmills and solar panels and installing them, along with a “smart grid” perhaps, would provide millions of badly needed new jobs. So why aren’t we doing this instead of shooting up with fossil fuels? I believe there are two reasons, one involving the decision-makers and the other the public.

For the .01% whose desires dictate to the Congress of this and other countries, what’s in that syringe is not energy so much as money. The remaining fossil fuel reserves are the asset base of the extremely wealthy and powerful oil and gas companies and those in charge are determined to wring the value out of those assets, no matter what the cost to the rest of us and our world. Thus we have the utter absurdity of continuing subsidies for oil companies, the most profitable corporations ever to exist.

For the rest of us, the situation is quite different. For most, it’s more a matter of being reluctant to accept any change in lifestyle and habits, that explains our failure to demand change. Probably, given the much lower energy density of solar and wind than fossil fuels — which represent the stored solar energy of millions of years — it isn’t realistic to expect that a largely or entirely renewable energy system would allow us to live like we do now. But is the energy-obese American lifestyle making us happy? Or secure? Or healthy?

It’s not, and to those who think life would be impossible or not worth living without expending 20 to 30 kilowatt-hours a day in our homes, plus what we use for transportation and manufacturing, I point out that our ancestors lived without any electricity at all for thousands of generations — right up to about three generations ago.

My other argument is personal. My husband and I have an off-grid solar system, which cost us $9070 (all components) in 2009. He had the skills to do this himself, saving probably $2000, but on the other hand the panels are considerably cheaper now. Tax rebates reduced the cost by about half. This system gives us all the power we need; we use about three kilowatt-hours a day, ten percent of the average US household. We have laptop computers, lights, microwave and blender, power tools, fans and a conventional refrigerator.

I don’t believe we are living in deprivation or austerity. True, we have no appliances running even when they’re off, no insecurity lights to dim the stars, no air conditioning (we built our house against tall trees to the west, so fans are ample for cooling). Thus, I believe America could use a quarter of its current electricity budget with no real loss of quality of life.

The time has come to face our addiction, and accept the withdrawal symptoms on our way to health. We can’t expect the sociopaths, i.e. people lacking in conscience and compassion, who are running our energy corporations — and through them, our governments — to lead the way. Instead, we must do it ourselves, withdrawing support from corporations and finding ways to meet our needs directly ourselves, or cooperatively in our communities, where possible.

One of the ways to do that is to set up renewable power for our homes — now, not in some vague future when, possibly, it will be cheaper than today. Thinking about ways to reduce the use of gasoline for transportation is also important. Perhaps most important is simply understanding that the privilege of using large amounts of cheap energy inefficiently was a twentieth century phenomenon, and it’s about over now.

Are we ready to accept grownup responsibility, to live in touch with the changing weather conditions, to live as citizens of Earth and not its owners? We need to leave much of the remaining fossil fuel in the ground, and move rapidly to a leaner, greener, cleaner way of life. It will require more thoughtfulness, sometimes more labor-intensive ways of doing things (in other words, more jobs) and sometimes foregoing things when the power supply is low.

Let’s put down that needle, that pipeline, and that drilling rig, stop talking about fossil fuels as “bridges to a clean energy future” and just move directly to that future now. Leaving a decent planet for our grandchildren depends upon it.

>>> Mary Wildfire has lived near Spencer, the county seat of Roane County, WV, most of the last 35 years. She is active in community projects, a member of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and a resident of the Hickory Ridge Land Trust. <<<

Horizontal Marcellus Gas Well

The West Virginia Office of Oil and Gas has revised and updated the permit process for Permits to drill and frack in the Marcellus shale of the State.  Based upon the ”Horizontal Drilling Act” enacted by the Legislature in late 2011 and the “emergency rules” established by the Governor early in 2011, these new procedures provide more information to the public and provide for some opportunity for public comment.

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The information below is from the WV-DEP on March 14, 2012
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The Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Oil and Gas has launched a webpage that contains information specifically related to horizontal drilling as defined by the Horizontal Drilling Act that was passed by the state Legislature in December.

As part of the Act, the Legislature required the DEP to create the page so citizens could obtain information about the location of proposed horizontal wells and give them the opportunity to comment on those permit applications.

Currently, the page offers links to items that will be further developed as permit applications are received by the agency. Links to pages that allow citizens to submit or review comments about specific permit applications, as well as a link to a tool that helps them find the location of a proposed well,
are included.

“The page will continue to grow and change as more permit applications are submitted to the agency,” said James Martin, Chief of the Office of Oil and Gas. “Soon, after we populate the site with applications that have been received, people will be able to see a list with information such as the applicant, where the well is located, the formation it targets, whether the well has been completed and the date the permit was issued.”

Under the new legislation, one of the first steps operators have to take is placing a Class II Legal notice in local newspapers at least 10 days prior to submitting an application.

“As an added public notice option, people can go to this page and sign up for an email notification whenever a permit is received or issued by the Office of Oil and Gas,” Martin said.

The site, which is shown below, can be found at:
http://www.dep.wv.gov/oil-and-gas/Horizontal-Permits/Pages/default.aspx

Horizontal Drilling Permit Page

The Office of Oil and Gas welcomes you to this page, which is dedicated to providing information about permitting activity related to horizontal well development which falls under the Natural Gas Horizontal Well Control Act. The Act defines a horizontal well as “any well site, other than a coalbed methane well, drilled using a horizontal drilling method, and which disturbs three acres or more of surface, excluding pipelines, gathering lines and roads, or utilizes more than two hundred ten thousand gallons of water in any thirty day period.”

This page provides information related to horizontal well permit applications, including the name of the applicant, approximate location of the well, the well registration number and any public comments that have been submitted regarding the application. This page also allows users to sign up for email notification of horizontal well applications that have been submitted to the Office of Oil and Gas, as well as applications that have been approved.

Links:

To request a copy of a permit application, please use the following email address: DEP.OOGComments@wv.gov or send a letter to: Permit Review, Office of Oil and Gas, 601 57th St., SE, Charleston, WV, 25304. The telephone number is 304-926-0450. Written comments on permit applications can be mailed to the address above. Please reference the county, well number and operator.

Copies of permit applications may be reviewed at the WV Department of Environmental Protection headquarters, located at 601 57th St., SE, Charleston, WV., 25304 (304-926-0450). A charge of $15.00 will be included for full copies or scans of permit applications or issued permits.