Marshall County recorded zero new drilling permits with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection over the past 90 days. While new well permitting has paused, the primary development in the county centers on midstream and regulatory moves along the West Virginia and Pennsylvania border. Columbia Gas Transmission has filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to abandon three underground natural gas storage reservoirs in the Majorsville area, which includes plugging 71 storage wells and taking down an associated compressor station.
For mineral owners, this lull in new drilling permits means royalty checks remain tied to existing Marcellus Shale production. Meanwhile, Columbia Gas's storage abandonment proposal carries specific implications for local landowners. Retiring these historic storage facilities can alter long-standing storage lease payments, remove surface infrastructure easements, and potentially ease surface or subsurface drilling restrictions on underlying formations once wells are plugged and federal approvals are complete.
Recent activity
- Columbia Gas Transmission applied for federal regulatory approval to decommission three underground gas storage fields and dismantle a compressor station in the Majorsville area.
- Columbia Gas Transmission outlined plans to plug 71 legacy storage wells along the West Virginia and Pennsylvania border as part of taking aging storage assets out of service.
- The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission established a schedule to conduct an environmental assessment for the proposed Majorsville-Heard storage abandonment project.
Who is active here
- Columbia Gas Transmission: Applied to FERC to permanently abandon three underground storage reservoirs in the Majorsville area, which includes plugging 71 storage wells and dismantling a compressor station.
What owners should watch
- The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission environmental review timeline and eventual ruling on the Majorsville-Heard storage abandonment.
- Well-plugging schedules and surface remediation for the 71 Columbia Gas Transmission storage wells across the border area.
- Impacts on existing gas storage easement agreements and rental payments tied to the decommissioning reservoirs.
- Whether decommissioning storage fields opens previously restricted acreage for future Marcellus Shale or deep Utica development.
Questions owners ask
Were any new oil and gas drilling permits issued in Marshall County recently?
No new drilling permits were issued by the West Virginia DEP for Marshall County over the last 90 days. Production activity continues from previously drilled Marcellus wells, but operators have not permitted new well sites during this window.
What is Columbia Gas Transmission doing in the Majorsville area of Marshall County?