Did Shale Well Methane Migration Cause SWPA Home to Explode?
On Wednesday a man in Clarksville (Green County), PA turned on his gas stove and it exploded, catching fire to and leveling the entire house. The man, his girlfriend and young child were helicoptered to a hospital burn unit. The working theory/assumptions are (a) the man didn’t smell mercaptan, therefore the source of the gas that exploded was not from the stove or line into the house itself, and (b) because there is an EQT shale well “across the street” and a gathering pipeline that runs “next to the house,” methane “may have” migrated from the shale well to the home, or methane leaked from the gathering line into the home.
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In September, MDN told you that Dominion Energy had sold two “merchant” (non-regulated) natural gas-fired electric generating plants for $1.23 billion to Starwood Energy. And at the same time, Dominion announced it was shopping its 50% ownership stake in Blue Racer Midstream (see 
Dominion Energy shared two bits of big news yesterday during their third quarter 2018 update. The first is that they’ve agreed to sell their 50% stake in Blue Racer Midstream (see Dominion Sells Its 50% Share in Blue Racer Midstream for $1.5B). The second bit of news, big news (for us), is that Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) is now officially delayed–from late 2019 to “mid-2020” for a full startup. The price tag for ACP is going up too: $7 billion (up from $6.5 billion). But it’s not all bad news for ACP. Some pieces of the project will still go online in 2019, just not all of it. Dominion is taking a “phased in-service approach” to bringing the project online. The delays are due to the “FERC stop work order and delays obtaining permits necessary for construction.” We put it this way: The delays due to a myriad of frivolous lawsuits from Big Green groups means everyone will now pay more. Thanks Big Green.
Antero Resources, one of the biggest drillers in the Marcellus/Utica, passed an important milestone last month: Producing more than 3 billion cubic feet equivalent per day (Bcfe/d) in natural gas (and related hydrocarbons). All of that production is in the Marcellus/Utica. Looking strictly at the third quarter–July through September–Antero’s production averaged 2.7 Bcfe/d (29% of it liquids), which is a 17% increase over 3Q17 and an 8% increase over 2Q18. We’re pretty sure we are on solid ground in saying the only company that produces more is EQT, with an average of 4.1 Bcfe/d in 3Q18. Watch out EQT, Antero is catching up!
Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. (Transco) is the crown jewel of Williams. Transco is a 10,200-mile pipeline system with 53 compressor stations extending from South Texas to New York City. The recent Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project in northeast PA that went online Oct. 6 is part of Transco, feeding more Marcellus gas into the Transco system to flow that gas south. During yesterday’s Williams third quarter update, CEO Alan Armstrong hinted that yet another new Transco project, “Project #1,” is in the works and will be announced during 4Q18. Project #1 will expand Transco’s capacity in Zones 3-6, allowing more Marcellus/Utica gas to flow south–perhaps all the way to the Gulf Coast.
The “best of the rest”–stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading: Steve Gray appointed to Range Resources board of directors; MPLX names Timothy J. Aydt vice president, business development; Feds open criminal probe into natural gas explosions; The oil and gas situation: volatility, trade wars beginning to take a toll; Energy Secretary heads to Europe on natural-gas exports push; GN released VIST vacuum shale shaker screen for drilling fluids recovery; U.S. monthly crude oil production exceeds 11 million barrels per day in August; Iran’s worst nightmare is coming true; China, India reported set to keep buying Iranian oil as U.S. sanctions loom; Always-evolving global oil technologies and demand.