New legislation would require monthly reports on Pa. shale gas production

Katie Colaneri

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Katie Colaneri is a reporter for StateImpact Pennsylvania and WHYY in Philadelphia covering energy and the environment. Before joining StateImpact, Katie worked as an investigative and enterprise reporter at WBGO in Newark, New Jersey. She covered some of New Jersey's biggest stories including the devastation and aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, as well as the day-to-day triumphs and struggles to revitalize state's largest city. A native of New Jersey with roots in South Central Pennsylvania, Katie holds a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College.

June 24, 2014 | 10:47 AM

A bill introduced in May by Rep. Tina Pickett (R) would require drillers in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale to report how much gas they’re producing on a monthly basis.
Since 2010, Pennsylvania has required production reports to the Department of Environmental Protection twice a year. Landowners who want to verify what they’re getting from gas production on their leases have said that may not be enough, particularly as the state investigates allegations of underpaid royalties.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports monthly reporting could not only help landowners audit their royalty payments, but could also give analysts a better idea of how much gas is being produced in Pennsylvania on a regular basis.
More from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

A key factor for analysts trying to measure and forecast the size of any natural gas resource is the rate that wells decline in terms of the volume of gas they produce. The metric can reveal how quickly wells peter out and how much gas they can be expected to produce in their lifetime.
In a February report on the Marcellus Shale’s “astounding” growth, the investment research firm Morningstar noted that energy forecasters and other “in-the-know” groups had consistently underestimated the shale’s performance.
Morningstar analyst Mark Hanson said the slow pace of data releases from the states likely contributed to those errors.

“There are a lot of analysts that depend on private databases, which in turn rely heavily on publicly available data,” he said. “If the publicly available data is stale, that is definitely going to lead to underestimation or at least misinformation or a whole lot more in the way of assumptions and guesses.”

Another bill aimed at limiting gas companies from withholding royalty money from landowners for post-production costs will be set aside until the fall legislative session.