Williams Sues ET Again, This Time for Blocking La. Pipe Project
Two pipeline industry titans are going after each other again. Energy Transfer and Williams previously tangled over an aborted proposed merger, a saga that stretched from 2015 until it was finally settled in 2023 (see Williams Finally Wins Case Against ET Aborted Merger – $495 Million). More recently, Williams sought permits to drill for a FERC-approved project in northern Louisiana that would have crossed under an existing ET pipeline in several locations. ET tried to block the Williams project by refusing permission to cross under its pipeline. Williams finally won the right to build, but not before a long delay. Williams recently told an Argus Media reporter that Williams brought a “very large lawsuit” against ET for the delay. Read More “Williams Sues ET Again, This Time for Blocking La. Pipe Project”
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) was busy last Thursday during its latest open meeting. Not only did the commissioners approve an expansion for Elba Island LNG, they also approved a meter station project that will connect the Rover pipeline in Washington County, PA, to Energy Transfer’s Revolution Cryogenic Facility, a facility that extracts natural gas liquids (NGLs) from field gas and partially fractionates mixed NLGs to produce natural gas products like ethane. 
Two days ago, Energy Transfer (ET), a major midstream (pipeline) company with assets in the Marcellus/Utica, issued its third quarter update. ET has assets in many areas of the country, so there was plenty of discussion about pipelines in other areas. However, the centerpiece of the update and the conference call with analysts was the incredible (and we mean incredible) demand ET is seeing from both gas-fired power plants (new and existing) and data center projects. In his opening remarks, Tom Long, co-CEO of ET, said the company has received requests to connect to approximately 45 power plants the company does not currently serve in 11 states. The demand from those 45 plants would be 6 Bcf per day. In addition, ET has requests from over 40 prospective data centers in 10 states that would use another 10 Bcf/d. A combined 16 Bcf/d of new demand for one company. Incredible! 
In 2019, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) began formulating new regulations for intrastate pipelines transporting gasoline, petroleum, crude oil, and natural gas liquids like ethane. In July 2021, the PUC finally published a draft of new regulations (see 
A lawsuit being heard this summer is designed to hold Big Green groups responsible for their actions. Energy Transfer (ET), the owner and operator of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAP), is suing Greenpeace and other alleged instigators for $300 million for the damages sustained by the company as a result of violent protests incited by the groups in North Dakota in 2016. Big Green is scared.
What had been a regular stream of talk about providing power to data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) has become a torrent. There is a clear connection between data centers and the natural gas industry. This most recent round of quarterly financial updates by the biggest of the big pipeline companies (all of which have a huge presence in the Marcellus/Utica) reveals a new opportunity: building natgas pipelines directly to data centers. Why? Because increasingly those data centers are considering making their own power.
The left is nervous about the oil and gas sector giving money to the campaign of Donald J. Trump. The New York Times, a bastion of leftist Democrat propaganda, has a headline and story blaring, “Biden and Big Oil Had a Truce. Now, It’s Collapsing.” Bloomberg’s version says, “Oil Titans Help Give Trump an Edge Over Biden in Fundraising.” Both stories reference a fundraising lunch being held today in Houston, Texas. The event will have a Who’s Who in the O&G industry, including Kelsy Warren from pipeline giant Energy Transfer, Harold Hamm, founder of oil driller Continental Resources, and Vicki Hollub, CEO of oil drilling giant Occidental Petroleum. They are ALL opening their wallets for Mr. Trump. And that makes the left nervous.
The government screws up just about everything it touches — ever notice that? A perfect example is a water testing program set up by then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro in December 2022. In August 2022, Shapiro, who AG at the time, announced that he had finally bullied Energy Transfer into pleading “no contest” (meaning they don’t admit to a darned thing) in a so-called criminal case against the company for a series of accidents affecting construction for both the Revolution and Mariner East pipelines (see 
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 
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 
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