Cabot Oil & Gas sells rights to drill in Pike, Wayne

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100804/NEWS/8040342
August 04, 2010 12:00 AM

Gas company sells rights to drill in Pike, Wayne

SCRANTON (AP) — A newspaper says a natural gas exploration company is giving up on drilling in a portion of northeastern Pennsylvania where a multistate water regulatory body isn’t granting permits.

The Times-Tribune of Scranton reported Tuesday that Cabot Oil & Gas is selling the rights to its acreage in Wayne and Pike counties.

It has about 9,200 acres there.

The Houston-based company says it’ll focus on Susquehanna County, where it has drilled more than 100 wells and been repeatedly penalized by state regulators for polluting residential water wells and spilling chemicals.

Last year, the Delaware River Basin Commission declared a moratorium on drilling in the Delaware River basin while it works on regulations. Without a permit to withdraw water, drilling companies can’t operate. Drilling is in full swing elsewhere in Pennsylvania.