HARRISBURG — The 2021 Oil and Gas Annual Report, released Thursday, by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) shows that production and compliance inspections increased in 2021. Pennsylvania continues to be the second largest producer of natural gas in the nation, behind Texas.
DEP issued 770 unconventional well permits in 2021, about 150 fewer than the previous year. Sustained low commodity prices coupled with longer wellbores contributed to a decline in permit applications.
In McKean County, for 2021, 77 total permits were issued. Thirty-one permits were issued for combination oil and gas wells and 38 permits for oil wells, described as Drill & Operate Well Permit (Conventional), six permits were issued for gas wells described as Drill & Operate Well Permit (Unconventional), and two for injection wells described as Drill & Operate Well Permit Change in Use.
Elk County permits issued totaled 17; all of which were for gas wells described as Drill & Operate Well Permit (Unconventional), Cameron County had 15 gas well permits under Drill & Operate Well Permit (Unconventional), while Potter County was issued one storage well permit under Drill & Operate Well Permit (Conventional).
“In 2021, DEP remained committed to enforcing violations of the oil and gas industry,” said DEP Acting Secretary Ramez Ziadeh. “Governor Wolf and DEP continued their priority of maintaining environmental protection for Pennsylvania’s residents and visitors.”
McKean County drilled 46 conventional and six unconventional wells, totalling 52 wells in 2021. In Elk County, a total of 13 wells were drilled; all were classified as unconventional. Eleven unconventional wells were drilled in Cameron County. No wells were reportedly drilled in 2021 for Potter County.
The report notes that DEP personnel completed 34,145 compliance inspections at conventional and unconventional well sites in 2021, about 8,262 more than in 2020. All inspections continue to be done electronically.
For 2021, in McKean County, one violation and eight outstanding violations were noted during the compliance evaluation. Six inspections resulted in “no violations noted.” Elk and Potter counties each had three compliance evaluations and all were without violations. No compliance evaluations were recorded for Cameron County. Many other types of inspections were completed for all counties, with varying results.
In 2021, more than 7.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas was produced from unconventional and conventional gas wells in Pennsylvania. This represents the largest volume of natural gas on record that has been produced in Pennsylvania in a single year.
In 2021, there was 7,572,916,109 cubic feet of natural gas produced from unconventional wells, and 76,454,176 cubic feet of natural gas produced from conventional wells.
In 2020, data confirmed that 7,091,486,278 cubic feet of natural gas was produced from unconventional wells and 83,837,607 cubic feet of natural gas was produced from conventional wells.
The annual report features a section on the many ways the public can stay up-to-date on regulations, for example, by signing up for email notifications or attending Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board Meetings in person or by webinar.
The Wolf Administration also made public a report requested by Wolf detailing the compliance records of conventional oil and gas producers. The report was requested in the July 19, 2022 Lapsing Statement that accompanied HB 2644. The report reviewed compliance among conventional oil and gas operators, evaluated options for ensuring compliance, and provided recommendations for possible reforms.
