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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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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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Record High NGL Exports from Marcus Hook, ET Expanding Facility

Marcus Hook Marine Terminal Near Philadelphia. Source: Energy Transfer

Pipeline giant Energy Transfer (ET), owner of the Mariner East Pipeline system, the Marcus Hook NGL terminal, and the Rover pipeline in the Marcellus/Utica region, issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2023 update yesterday. Net income for 4Q23 was $1.57 billion, up 9% from 4Q22’s $1.44 billion. However, net income for 2023 was $5.29 billion, down 10% from 2022’s $5.87 billion. ET is a big company with assets in many oil and gas regions of the U.S. Of interest for us were the comments about the Marcus Hook NGL terminal and its exports.
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What Happened to $42 Million in Fines Paid by Mariner East Pipe?

In July, MDN compared the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection to an organized crime mob with its ongoing shakedowns in assessing “fines” on the Mariner East pipeline project (see PA DEP Squeezes Another $660,000 from ME2 Pipe for “Violations”). At that time, we were aware that over $30 million had been extorted (er, a, extracted) from Mariner East in so-called fines. We were grossly wrong. The actual number is over $42 million! The enviro-left was giddy with the fines but is now asking the question, where did all that money go? Because it sure didn’t go into their pockets (as promised)…
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Energy Transfer Fixing Dent Recently Discovered in Mariner East 2X Pipe

A view from the air of the damaged Mariner East 2 pipeline. (SUBMITTED PHOTO/CHRIS “PK” DIGIUILIO)

The Mariner East Pipeline system, including Mariner East 1 (ME1), Mariner East 2 (ME2), and Mariner East 2X (ME2X), completed construction and went online in the first quarter of 2022 (see All Construction for Mariner East 2 Pipeline Now Done, Online 1Q). Pipeline operators like Energy Transfer (ET), the builder and operator of the ME system, routinely inspect pipelines for potential troubles. They run a PIG (pipeline inspection gauge) down the pipeline to search for corrosion and anomalies. ET recently found an anomaly in the ME2X pipeline — a dent — in a section in Chester County, PA. So they’ve set about to fix it.
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Williams Finally Wins Case Against ET Aborted Merger – $495 Million

In 2015, Kelsy Warren and his Energy Transfer Equity (now just Energy Transfer) company pursued Williams, wanting to merge Williams into its operation. Williams initially fought ET tooth and nail, but in the end, caved and cut a deal (see Williams Accepts ETE’s “Indecent Proposal” – Price Went Down $10B). Without recounting all the sordid details, ET got cold feet and left Williams at the altar. Williams sued to recoup a contractual breakup fee (see Merger Turns Sour: Williams Sues ETE/CEO Kelcy Warren). A number of lawsuits ensued, and finally, after more than six years, a Delaware Court of Chancery judge ruled last December that ET must pay Williams a $410 million breakup fee provided for in the signed deal (see Judge: Energy Transfer Must Pay Williams $410M for Aborted Merger). ET should have been happy with the decision…
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PA DEP Considers Plan to Expand ET’s Marcus Hook Ethane Chilling

On February 14, 2022, Energy Transfer Marketing & Terminals, L.P. (ETMT) applied to expand the company’s ethane chilling capacity at the Marcus Hook Terminal (MHT) from approximately 75,000 barrels per day (bpd) to approximately 85,000 bpd. Because the facility is located in a so-called Environmental Justice (EJ) area, the DEP is conducting an even more painful anal exam (than usual) before issuing a permit for the expansion. Part of that examination will be a public hearing on Sept. 19, 2023, in Boothwyn, PA, from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
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Energy Transfer to Acquire Crestwood Equity in $7.1B Mega-Deal

Some really big news hit yesterday. U.S. pipeline giant Energy Transfer (ET), builder of the Rover and Mariner East pipeline systems here in the Marcellus/Utica, is buying out and merging in Crestwood Equity Partners, a major pipeline company with operations in the Permian, Bakken, and Powder River Basin. ET will acquire Crestwood in an all-equity (stock-only) transaction valued at approximately $7.1 billion, including the assumption of $3.3 billion of debt. Once upon a time, Crestwood owned major assets in the Marcellus/Utica region, but as of last year, the company exited the M-U. The addition of Crestwood adds 1.4 Bcf/d of gas gathering capacity and 340,000 b/d of oil gathering capacity to ET’s existing portfolio.
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Energy Transfer Exports 20% of Worldwide NGLs, 40% of U.S. NGLs

Energy Transfer (ET) is one of the country’s largest midstream (pipeline) companies. ET is the builder and operator of important pipelines in the Marcellus/Utica region, including Rover, natgas pipeline through Ohio delivering M-U molecules to the Midwest, Canada, and beyond, and the Mariner East pipelines that deliver NGLs from Eastern Ohio and PA to the Marcus Hook refinery in the Philadelphia area. ET’s operations extend throughout the country. NGLs are an important part of the picture for ET, as was mentioned during the company’s second quarter update yesterday.
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PA DEP Squeezes Another $660,000 from ME2 Pipe for “Violations”

The problem with the pay-for-protection scam is that it never stops. A mobster comes calling on a business, and for a “small” and regular fee, the mobster will guarantee nothing “happens” to the business. “Just think of it as insurance.” It’s a shakedown–a scam. And over the years, the price keeps going up. What if the mobster is a government agency, like the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP)? The DEP keeps shaking down Energy Transfer and its Sunoco Pipeline subsidiary over the construction and operation of the Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipeline. Over the years, the DEP has fined ET/Sunoco over $30 MILLION for so-called penalties related to building ME2. [And another $30.6M related to the Revolution Pipeline explosion.] Yesterday, the DEP announced ANOTHER $660,000 in “penalties” related to building ME2. When will it end?
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PBS Hypes New Mariner East Pipe “Sinkhole” in Chester County, PA

click for larger version

One of the challenges faced by Energy Transfer in building its Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipeline (two pipelines) to transport NGLs from southwestern PA and eastern OH to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia was the terrain in Chester County, near Philly. The area has a karst topography–think of it as Swiss cheese underground, where there are a lot of holes carved out of the sandstone deposits over the years. ME2 didn’t create the karst topography but suffers from its presence because of frequent sinkholes that form when drilling through it. Although the drilling is long done and over, another very small sinkhole recently appeared in Chester near the ME2 pipeline.
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How M-U NGLs Get Exported – ET’s Mariner Pipelines & Marcus Hook

NGLs, or natural gas liquids, are an essential revenue stream for Marcellus/Utica drillers in the “wet gas” regions of the play. Those regions are found in southwestern Pennsylvania, the northern panhandle of West Virginia, and eastern Ohio. There are several pipelines that flow M-U NGLs to other regions or to export facilities. Among them is Enterprise Products Partners’ 1,230-mile Appalachia to Texas Express (ATEX) pipeline to the Gulf Coast, and Kinder Morgan’s 270-mile Utica-to-Ontario-Pipeline-Access (UTOPIA) pipeline from Harrison County, Ohio, to Windsor in Canada’s Ontario province. However, most M-U NGLs travel through Energy Transfer’s Mariner East and West pipelines, with Mariner East flowing to the Marcus Hook export terminal near Philadelphia.
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PA & TX Congressmen Tour Philly’s Marcus Hook NGL Facility

Marcus Hook complex (click for larger version)

U.S. Congressman Dan Meuser (PA-09) joined Congressman Troy Nehls (TX-22) for a roundtable discussion and tour of Energy Transfer’s Marcus Hook facility near Philadelphia last week. Marcus Hook is where the mighty Mariner East pipeline system terminates. Mariner East flows natural gas liquids (NGLs), including ethane, propane, and butane, to the Marcus Hook refinery, where a fractionator separates them into their respective hydrocarbon streams. The various NGLs are then (mostly) loaded onto ships and exported. The entire system–the pipeline and the refinery–is a marvel. Meuser and Nehls were there to learn more about it.
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Disabled Vet Sues ME2 Pipeline for Destroying Home Water & Sewage

A disabled Navy veteran and his wife, who live in a rural, wooded area of Cambria County, PA, say their lives were upended beginning in 2017 when Sunoco (Energy Transfer) began constructing the Mariner East 2 NGL pipeline across their property. According to the vet, Sunoco cut down more than 60 large trees on his property, destroyed several small ponds, destroyed his water well, and destroyed (caved in) his septic system. The property is now susceptible to frequent flooding and sewage backups into the house.
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9-Day Delay Before PA DEP Inspected Revolution Plant Explosion

Residents living in the vicinity of Energy Transfer’s Revolution Pipeline cryogenic plant in Bulger (Washington County), PA, got a surprise “present” on Christmas morning. Around 7:30 am, residents report hearing an explosion, followed by a fire, at the plant used to separate NGLs (natural gas liquids, including ethane, propane, and butane) from the raw gas stream that flows through the Revolution gathering pipeline (see ET Revolution Cryogenic Processing Plant Explodes in PA on Xmas). Believe it or not, it took the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) nine full days, until Jan. 3, to actually show up on-site and investigate the situation.
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15 Biggest Natural Gas Pipeline Companies in the World

Here’s a question: What are the 15 biggest (by company revenue) natural gas-owning pipeline companies in the world? The U.S. has the biggest natural gas pipeline infrastructure in the world, covering a distance of 333,000 kilometers (206,917 miles). Even so, only one U.S.-based company is in the top 5 biggest pipeline companies. Can you guess which country takes the top 2 spots on the list?
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