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Fed Court Quizzes Enviros and NJ re Williams Transco Expansion

A three-judge panel from the federal D.C. Circuit spent two hours on Friday hearing arguments for and against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of Williams’ Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project. REAE is an expansion of the mighty Transco pipeline in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to deliver an extra 829 MMcf/d of Marcellus gas to PA, NJ, and Maryland. Part of the project was done and went online last year (see Williams 1Q – Regional Energy Access Pipe Coming Online Early). The balance of the project is scheduled to be completed and online by the end of this year.
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Temporary Setback for CNX Gas & Water Pipeline Project in SWPA

CNX Resources filed a request with the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) in April 2023 to build two pipelines — two for natural gas — along a 13.9-mile route in Bell, Loyalhanna and Salem Townships in Westmoreland County. An additional 4-mile pipeline would be built for water. Called the Slickville Trunkline Project, the DEP told CNX last December (yes, it took the agency eight months to reply!) that the application was “incomplete” and that CNX had 60 days to provide the extra info.
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Will EQT Sell the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) Crown Jewels?

Yesterday, EQT Corporation announced a deal to buy its former midstream division, now called Equitrans Midstream, for roughly $5.46 billion (see Stop Press! EQT Buying Equitrans Midstream in All-Stock Deal). Equitrans owns 1,200 miles of gathering pipelines (the main reason for the purchase) and another 940 miles of interstate pipelines. The crown jewels for Equitrans is the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), which is due to be finished and online in the next few months. Would EQT sell off the crown jewels?
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MVP Protesters Reveal Themselves as Anti-Semites

On Tuesday, we reported on yet another illegal protest that happened Monday, blocking work for a time on the last bits of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (see 2 “Protesters” Locked to Car Block Road to MVP Construction Site). Two protesters locked themselves to an old junk car and had to be removed, a process that took police hours. Both were charged with misdemeanors. We didn’t have much in the way of information. Fortunately, the protesters themselves issued a full report on the incident, and what we saw in a photo accompanying that report shocked us (but perhaps should not have). These people are hate-filled anti-Semites.
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PA Supreme Court Debates State vs. Federal Power Over Pipe Permits

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court yesterday debated whether the federal National Gas Act empowers the state to review permits for a pipeline project or bars it from doing so — a question that hinges on whether appeals to a state board are preempted civil actions or administrative proceedings that would fall under the state’s purview. It’s an important distinction. The case can potentially set a precedent that could influence future infrastructure projects and “state-federal power dynamics.”
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Antis Launch Ad Hominem Attack of Va. DEQ Director re MVP Work

In a new low, anti-fossil fuelers who have tried and failed to stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Virginia (now 99% done) are now attacking the reputation and character of the Director of the Virginia Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ), trying to slow things down with an ad hominem (“to the man” or “personal”) attack against the guy who oversees the environmental agency that has a partial role in watching over MVP. It’s shameful. DEQ Director Michael Rolband was appointed to his job by newly-elected Gov. Glenn Youngkin in 2022, back when MVP was already 95% done but stalled due to repeated lawfare by Big Green and cooperative (corrupt) 4th Circuit judges. Even though MVP was already mostly done in Virginia, antis say because Rolband — who did some work for MVP in his prior career before heading DEQ — is somehow compromised or unethical and not doing his oversight job correctly now. Complete hogwash!
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2 “Protesters” Locked to Car Block Road to MVP Construction Site

Once again, Big Green is attempting to illegally block the final bits of construction of the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline as it travels through Roanoke County, VA. Yesterday, two “protesters” chained or otherwise attached themselves to an old (junk) car, a car made entirely from and with fossil fuels, blocking a road that leads to an MVP construction site. We grow tired of reporting these incidents and debated on whether or not to report this one. However, MDN readers deserve to know how the lawless left behaves. Plus, one of the so-called protesters looks like he (or she) is…well, you can fill in the blank.
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Darth Vader (BlackRock) Buying New England Pipeline for $1.14B

The 295-mile Portland Natural Gas Transmission System (PNGTS) spans New England from the Canadian border to pipeline connections in New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts. The system began operations in 1999 and is located between three major pipeline networks originating in Canada and the Southern U.S. TC Energy owns 61.7% of PNGTS. The remaining 38.3 percent is owned by Northern New England Investment Company. The system includes 107 miles of facilities jointly owned by PNGTS and Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline. PNGTS owns 32% of those facilities. TC Energy announced today it is selling PMGTS to the evil BlackRock (run by CEO Larry Fink, a known anti-fossil fueler) for US$1.14 billion.
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Roundup of 3 New M-U Pipeline Projects Coming to North Carolina

MVP pipes

Three new pipeline projects are on the way in North Carolina, each one of them will deliver more Marcellus/Utica natural gas to the Tar Heel State. We’ve covered all three projects in separate posts. This post is a roundup, an overview of each project in one place. The three pipeline projects coming to North Carolina over the next few years are MVP Southgate (from Equitrans Midstream), T15 Reliability Project (from Dominion Energy), and Southeast Supply Enhancement (from Williams).
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PA DEP: Clay Material Near Marsh Creek State Park NOT Drilling Mud

Never jump to conclusions. It can come back to bite you. Even MDN is sometimes (rarely, but sometimes) guilty of violating that truism. Last week, we told you that drilling mud left in the ground from Energy Transfer’s Mariner East Pipeline project work near Marsh Creek State Park (Chester County, PA) had, more than three years after the work was completed, begun to leak out of the ground once again (see More Drilling Mud Surfaces Near Marsh Creek State Park in PA). Energy Transfer (Sunoco Pipeline) swung into action to clean up the new “spill,” and the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) investigated. Guess what? After testing the substance, the DEP found it was not actually bentonite (drilling mud) after all but was “naturally occurring” clay.
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Biden Announces 3 New FERC Commissioner Nominees, Finally

Yesterday, the Biden White House announced it is nominating three new members to join the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). There are supposed to be five commissioners, although the commission can still function with as few as three. Currently, there are three (two Democrats, one Republican), with one of the Dems, radical Allison Clements, leaving at the end of her term in June. Two active commissioners are not enough for a quorum to vote on important matters. So finally, after months and months of stalling, Joementia got around to nominating some new blood — two Dems and one Republican.
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More Drilling Mud Surfaces Near Marsh Creek State Park in PA

While drilling in Chester County, PA, in August 2020 in the Marsh Creek State Park area, Energy Transfer’s (ET) Mariner East 2X pipeline experienced an “inadvertent return” — nontoxic drilling mud coming up out of the ground where it’s not supposed to (see Mariner East 2X Construction Causes Another Drilling Mud Spill). It took more than $8 million in fines and cleanup costs to make it right (see PA Charges Mariner East Pipeline $8M+ to Fix Marsh Creek Lake). The cleanup work was finally done in 2022 (see ET Makes Significant Progress Cleaning Up Marsh Creek Lake). And, wouldn’t you know it? Another small area of drilling mud has just poked up through the ground once again.
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Western Midstream Deal to Sell Marcellus Gathering Systems Share

Two days ago, MDN told you about the rumor that Occidental Petroleum is considering a sale of its majority share in Western Midstream Partners for $20 billion, looking to work down a big pile of debt (see Sources: Occidental Looking to Sell Its Share of Western Midstream). That post was mainly about the dispute over whether Oxy can actually “sell” the Western Midstream company as it is a standalone company. However, our interest is in one of the smaller assets part of Western’s portfolio, three gathering systems in Central PA.
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Dominion Energy Announces New 45-Mile Pipeline for North Carolina

The contours of how and why Equitrans Midstream decided to cut its MVP (Mountain Valley Pipeline) Southgate project in North Carolina are becoming apparent. We told you in January that Equitrans had decided to slice MVP Southgate in more than half (see Equitrans Slices MVP Southgate Pipe Project From 75 to 31 Miles). Now comes word of a Dominion Energy filing to build a new 45-mile pipeline to connect MVP Southgate with Duke Energy’s planned new natural gas power plants on Hyco Lake’s southern shore (see Duke Energy Seeks to Build 2 Massive Gas-Fired Power Plants in NC).
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Equitrans Looking at Potential Buyer; MVP Now Delayed Until 2Q

Two really big (huge) pieces of news are coming from yesterday’s Equitrans Midstream fourth quarter and full-year 2023 update. The first bit of news is that Equitrans is actively considering a buyout offer. The company doesn’t use that exact language, but that’s what’s happening. This should come as no surprise, given the rumor mill on a potential Equitrans sale heated up last December (see Equitrans Midstream, Builder of MVP, Considers Selling Itself). The second bit of news is that (surprise!) the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project, which was supposed to be done and online by the end of March, will slip into the second quarter. Oh! And the price tag has increased once again, thanks to various lawsuits by Big Green and complicit judges.
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DT Midstream 4Q – M-U Pipeline Operations Expand, Looking for M&A

DT Midstream (DTM), headquartered in Detroit, owns major assets in the Marcellus/Utica region and other regions like the Haynesville. DTM issued its fourth quarter 2023 update last Friday. The Marcellus/Utica region (which they call Northeast in the report) received several prominent mentions during a conference call with analysts. Also of note were comments by DT CEO David Slater, who said he’s positioning the company to take advantage of “bolt-on” opportunities in the regions where they operate. Meaning he’s on the lookout for mergers and acquisitions.
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