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Gas Drilling Impact Fee Revenue Up 11 Percent This Year

Lindsay Lazarski
/
WHYY

Pennsylvania expects to collect $224.5 million in impact fees levied on natural gas drilling companies this year– an 11 percent increase over the amount collected last year.

The state’s 2012 oil and gas law, Act 13, charges drillers for each well. The fee can range from $40,000 to $60,000 per well, depending on the price of natural gas.

This year, drillers paid $50,000 for new horizontal wells– up from $45,000 last year because the price of gas increased. Smaller, vertical wells paid $10,000.

The state Public Utility Commission (PUC) is charged with collecting and distributing the fee. Spokeswoman Jennifer Kocher says there were approximately 1,200 new wells drilled in 2013.

Read more of this report at the website of our partner StateImpact Pennsylvania.