By Katerina E. Milenkovski Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently proposed several changes to its general permits for oil and gas well site production operations. These changes would: Incorporate requirements from the recently... Read More

By Kathy Milenkovski and Neal Pierce During the past year, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has conducted hearings on three applications for unitized operation under Ohio Revised Code 1509.28. Additional hearings are on the schedule for January... Read More

By William A. Ruskin Opponents of fracking argue that it is necessary for the public, and health and safety professionals, to have full access to information on the constituents of hydraulic fracturing fluids and waste. In a report released on July... Read More

The Utica Shale formation in eastern Ohio grabbed the national spotlight two years ago when the state's Department of Natural Resources estimated it held 5.5 billion barrels of recoverable oil, more than twice Yemen's oil resource and worth nearly... Read More

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit* in Summit Petroleum Corporation v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Nos. 09-4348; 10-4572) [ enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers ] vacated EPA's order aggregating... Read More

By Kathy Milenkovski. On October 30, 2013, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (“PUCO”) finalized rules proposed late last year to implement new requirements brought about by the enactment of Senate Bill 315 and to clarify the applicability... Read More

By Michael T. Altvater The Ohio House Ways and Means Committee updated House Bill 375, which proposes changes to the severance tax on natural resources. Among the updates are an increase in the proposed severance tax to 2.25% from 2% for horizontal... Read More

By R. Neal Pierce On May 24, 2012, the Ohio General Assembly enacted a comprehensive energy bill (Senate Bill 315) which addresses several provisions affecting the natural gas industry. The legislation has been forwarded to Governor John Kasich who... Read More

By Michael T. Altvater The Ohio Oil and Gas Commission issued its first decision under R.C. 1509.28 to provide for the compulsory pooling of property for oil and gas unit operations. In Gary L. Teeter Revocable Trust v. Division of Oil & Gas Resources... Read More

By Benjamin J. Bolinger A bill to increase the severance tax on oil and gas drilling has been proposed in the Ohio House of Representatives. House Bill 375 would increase the severance tax for horizontal shale wells to 1% for the first five years of... Read More

By Timothy M. McKeen and Jason Lucas | Ohio House Bill 72 (“ HB 72 ”), effective January 29, 2014, outlines important changes to filing for lease forfeiture or mineral abandonment under Ohio's Dormant Mineral Act by making an individual... Read More

By Kurt Krieger West Virginia ranked tenth, down from sixth in 2011; Ohio ranked 14th, down from second; and Pennsylvania ranked 34th, an improvement from 65th place in 2011 in the sixth annual Fraser Institute Global Petroleum Survey, published by... Read More

KASICH CONTINUES PUSH FOR DRILLING TAX: Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) renewed his call to impose steeper oil and gas drilling taxes on out-of-state oil companies in order to pay for an income tax cut for Buckeye State residents, telling reporters, "The... Read More

State officials are considering new rules to regulate storage of wastewater used to stimulate wells for the production of oil and gas. The new rules would potentially create new options for shale well producers to store millions of gallons of water in... Read More

The Ohio Attorney General's office was recently asked to give its opinion on a county's authority to sell water that is available to oil and gas drillers in need of large quantities of water for hydraulic fracturing purposes. Specifically, Harrison... Read More