Pittsburgh, PA and Washington, DC
FNREL Mineral and Energy Law Newsletter
Pennsylvania – Oil & Gas
(By Joseph Reinhart, Sean McGovern, Gina Buchman and Matthew Wood)
On June 9, 2026, Pennsylvania’s Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) reported impact fee revenues of $243.9 million for calendar year 2025, a 48% increase from the prior year. See IFO, “Impact Fee Update and Outlook” (June 2026). The increase was driven by a higher New York Mercantile Exchange-linked fee schedule and 442 new unconventional wells spud in 2025; an increase of 138 wells from the prior year. Id. Act 13 subjects new or “Year One” wells to the highest impact fee, making new wells an important measure for municipal governments.
The average annual NYMEX price was $3.43, triggering higher fees for most unconventional wells. In calendar year 2025 the average fee per well was $19,504, compared to $13,560 in 2024. Distributions for calendar year 2025 are allocated as follows:
- $134 million to counties, municipalities, and the Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Fund;
- $89.4 million to the Marcellus Legacy Fund;
- $10.5 million to commonwealth agencies; and
- $10 million to conservation districts and the State Conservation Commission.
Municipalities in Washington, Susquehanna, and Bradford counties received the majority of disbursements to local governments. See Pa. Pub. Util. Comm’n, “Act 13—Disbursements and Impact Fees,” here.
Although fees collected in 2025 represent a significant increase year-over-year, the total falls short of the record $278.88 million collected in 2022. Id. Between 2022 and 2023, the price of natural gas averaged $6.45 per British Thermal Unit, but prices declined in 2023 and remained lower through 2024. If the NYMEX average remains between $3.00 and $4.99 during calendar year 2026, the fee schedule will not change. With flat new-well activity and an assumed NYMEX average of $3.70, the IFO projects revenues of $248 million for 2026, an increase of about 2% over 2025. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has submitted this year’s distribution data to the Pennsylvania Treasury, which was expected to begin issuing payments in early July 2026.
Copyright © 2026, The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law, Westminster, Colorado
