EQT announced earlier this week that it had reached a $407 million agreement with Statoil to buy the rights to develop 62,500 acres in West Virginia and to current production of 50 MMcfe per day. The transaction will be funded by a common stock offering of 9,500,000 shares and is expected to close in early July 2016. Continue reading
Ohio court confirms that anti-fracking ordinances are preempted
On March 3, the Court of Appeals of Ohio for the Eighth Appellate District confirmed what the Supreme Court of Ohio made clear more than a year ago: a local government cannot prohibit shale development authorized by permit issued by the State of Ohio. See State ex rel. Morrison v. Beck Energy Corp., No. 2015-Ohio-485 (Feb. 17, 2015). Nonetheless, in Mothers Against Drilling in Our Neighborhood v. State (MADION), a community group challenged the voidance in a separate decision of the “community bill of rights” anti-fracking ordinance it had sponsored. Continue reading
Welcome
Welcome! If you’ve found this blog, you almost certainly have an interest in shale oil and gas development the law governing it. I do, too! Otherwise, I wouldn’t spend my free time collecting and commenting on legal developments in this ever-changing field. Continue reading
Joseph Schaeffer 