Conventional oil and gas wells are shallow vertical wells that are generally low-pressure/low-production wells.The world’s first conventional well was drilled in 1859, by “Colonel” Edwin Drake, in Titusville PA.  PA’s shallow conventional industry is different than the new Unconventional Shale Well industry that came to PA in the early 2000’s.  Unconventional wells horizontal wells that are many thousands of feet deep; they tap dense shale formations like the Marcellus and Utica shales through the use of large hydrofracturing processes.  Unconventional wells produce enormous amounts of gas under high pressure; in fact, the average unconventional well produces hundred or even thousands as many times the gas as a conventional well.  New pipelines are being constructed around PA to carry the high-pressure gas from unconventional wells.  On the other hand, conventional wells produce oil and gas at low pressures; conventional wells are connected to local distribution systems for home and business consumption.  Most conventional wells are owned by small businesses.  Most unconventional wells are owned by multinational companies.

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All of PGCC’s members are small businesses.PGCC was formed in the summer of 2013 by 20 small business owners who recognized that new regulations being imposed by the Pennsylvania DEP were written for the unconventional gas industry and that those regulations did not fit the conventional oil and gas industry. The founding members recognized the need for a trade group that has a laser focus on the issues associated with the development of new conventional oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania. While there are other trade groups in Pennsylvania, there are none that speak exclusively for conventional oil and gas operators who regularly develop new wells and produce existing wells.

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PGCC members volunteer many hours to teach about the differences between their conventional oil and gas industry and the much different unconventional industry. With much higher well pressures, much larger site and resource needs, different development and production techniques, etc., unconventional wells should be thought about and regulated differently.

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PGCC played a key role in the legislation which requires separate regulations for conventional oil and gas and which created the Pennsylvania Grade Crude Oil Development Advisory Council (CDAC).PGCC members serve on CDAC and PGCC members are in Harrisburg regularly to answer legislators’ questions about the unique qualities of the conventional industry.PGCC members regularly testify before legislative bodies and PGCC holds numerous training sessions both for its members and for outside organizations.

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PGCC is proud of its volunteer work in local communities and the PGCC program “Get Caught Doing Something Good!”PGCC members live in the same communities where they work.PGCC members raise their children in the same communities where they work.PGCC members have excellent reason to take careful care of their communities and to keep them clean and prosperous for generations to come.In many western Pennsylvania communities the conventional oil and gas industry is, has been, and will be, the backbone of the communities’ well-being.

 

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