Equitrans Delays MVP & Southgate In-Service Dates to 2022 & 2023
You could see this one coming from about 303 miles away: Equitrans Midstream (formerly EQT Midstream), the builder of the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), and a related 75-mile project called MVP Southgate, announced during its quarterly update yesterday that both projects have, once again, been delayed. The delay is thanks to the Sierra Club and other rabidly anti-fossil fuel, tax-free nonprofits (which shouldn’t be) and their incessant, repeated lawsuits backed with foreign money. MVP (already 92% complete) is now projected to be done and online next summer, and MVP Southgate will be done in 2023.
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Pipeline giant Williams released its 1Q21 update on Monday, but it wasn’t until a conference call with analysts yesterday that CEO Alan Armstrong shared the big news that Williams has purchased Southern Company’s natural gas energy trading unit Sequent Energy Management for $50 million. The deal vastly expands Williams’ capability to market natural gas (i.e. find new customers).
Oil and gas drilling giant Equinor (formerly called Statoil) is owned by the Norwegian government. Equinor/Statoil has drilled in the Marcellus/Utica for years. The company also invests in other M-U drilling programs. Equinor is reporting production from both its operated (drilled) and nonoperated (invested-in) wells increased in 1Q21, helping to offset an overall drop in oil and gas production.
Jim Snell, Business Manager at Steamfitters Local 420 (Philadelphia area) has written a powerful editorial appearing in the Delaware Valley Journal. Snell begins his article by saying President Biden’s “build back better” proposal overlooks the backbone of America’s energy system: pipelines. Snell goes on to make an irrefutable case for how Marcellus Shale drilling in northeastern and southwestern PA benefits Philadelphia and southeastern PA.
An interesting turn of events for our weekly permit report. In querying the Pennsylvania database, it reports no new permits issued for the past week. We can’t recall that ever happening. Pennsylvania almost always has the most permits issued of the three M-U states. West Virginia, which typically has the second-highest number of permits issued each week, also issued no new shale drilling permits last week. Only Ohio, which lately has issued very few permits for Utica drilling, had a bumper week, issuing 8 new permits!
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Reading & Northern Railroad hires Raffa for marketing role; NATIONAL: Enterprise weighs US tax policy amid cautious midstream gas, oil spending; INTERNATIONAL: Indian gas demand hit by coronavirus surge and restrictions; Goodbye OPEC, hello OMEC – a shift from petroleum power to minerals power.