Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation
EQT Gets DEP OK for 4.6-Mile Marcellus Gas Line in Lycoming County
More Marcellus wells are on the way in Pine Creek country. On October 20, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued EQT ARO LLC a permit to build about 4.6 miles of 10-inch gas line through Cummings and Watson townships in western Lycoming County, starting at a well pad on a state forest tract. DEP’s notice in last Saturday’s Pennsylvania Bulletin says the line is “for the purpose of Marcellus Shale well development.” The same issue shows Pennsylvania General Energy (PGE) picking up a new earthmoving permit one township over. Pine Creek is open for business. Read More “EQT Gets DEP OK for 4.6-Mile Marcellus Gas Line in Lycoming County”
Dominion Energy, Virginia’s biggest electric utility, reported third-quarter results on Friday. On the earnings call, CEO Bob Blue talked up offshore wind, solar, and batteries. He said almost nothing about natural gas. The gas news is in the fine print instead. Dominion’s new long-range plan, filed with Virginia regulators on Oct. 15, calls for nearly 9 gigawatts (GW) of new gas-fired power plants. That’s more than the company’s entire Virginia gas fleet today! Dominion is also pushing ahead with gas plants in Chesterfield County, VA, and South Carolina. Meanwhile, the planned $67 billion merger with NextEra Energy faces its make-or-break Virginia hearing, which starts Nov. 17. 
Last Wednesday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has proposed the first top-to-bottom rewrite of federal LNG facility safety rules in more than two decades. Most of the coverage, and most of the projected savings, centers on the giant LNG export terminals along the Gulf Coast. But the Marcellus/Utica has its own LNG industry: peak-shaving plants that keep the gas flowing on the coldest days of winter, plus small liquefaction plants fed by local shale gas. The 236-page proposal touches our corner of the LNG world in several ways, some good and one worth watching. Here’s what’s in it and what it means for the region. 
Back in January, we told you that Vistra Corp. had agreed to buy Cogentrix Energy and its 10 natural gas-fired power plants from private equity firm Quantum Capital Group for about $4 billion (see 
Welcome to a new weekly MDN feature. Every Saturday, the Pennsylvania Bulletin (the state’s official gazette) publishes page after page of permit applications and approvals from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Most of it covers sewage plants, quarries, and crematories. But buried in there is a steady trickle of shale-related permits: new well pad air permits, earthmoving permits for pads and pipelines, renewals, and spill cleanups. We read it so you don’t have to. Last week’s edition (Oct 31, Vol. 56, No. 44) ran 256 pages. Here’s what matters to the shale crowd. 
Last week we told you that West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey had served subpoenas on at least six environmental groups. He wanted nearly 10 years of their records, and his legal hook was the state’s consumer protection law (see 
The state that banned fracking, blocks pipelines, and has a law on the books requiring a zero-emissions grid by 2040 may soon get new gas-fired power plants. National Grid Ventures, the unregulated arm of utility National Grid, has filed requests with New York’s grid operator (NYISO) to build three new natural gas units at two of its old Long Island power plants: the E.F. Barrett station in Island Park (Nassau County) and the Northport Power Station (Suffolk County). Taken together, the three units add up to about 1,481 megawatts (MW) of new gas-fired generation in summer, and 1,584 MW in winter. New York Focus calls it the clearest sign yet of a “gas renaissance” in the Empire State. We call it reality knocking on Albany’s door. 
Cheniere Energy, the country’s largest LNG exporter and a big customer for gas from right here in the Marcellus/Utica, just put up another blockbuster quarter. Cheniere shipped a record 188 cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its two Gulf Coast plants in 3Q26, raised its full-year profit forecast for the third time this year, and bumped its dividend by more than 12%. More important for our neck of the woods: Cheniere is getting close to a final investment decision (FID) on a big expansion at Sabine Pass, Louisiana — the plant where our molecules end up. And in a twist nobody saw coming a few years ago, QatarEnergy is now a Cheniere customer. 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Longtime scientist-executive named to lead National Energy Technology Laboratory; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Natural gas is “cleaner” – but only when Maura Healey says so; The Permian Basin to become the largest natural gas-producing region in the U.S. In the 2030s; Colorado votes on right to buy natural gas in US climate fight; NATIONAL: Nymex slides as market transitions into winter; If proppant could talk; INTERNATIONAL: Oil prices sink as Iran signals talks; European natural gas prices fall more than 10% amid hopes for US-Iran talks; India’s top gas importer sets eyes on US LNG under long-term deal with Qatar; Poster child for green energy becomes buyer of emergency power.