Kinder Morgan

Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Dela. Riverkeeper Loses 2nd Court Case Against NEPA Pipeline
August 31, 2017August 31, 2017

Last week MDN brought you the news that THE Delaware Riverkeeper had lost a federal lawsuit against Kinder Morgan’s Orion Project to expand the Tennessee Gas Pipeline in northeast Pennsylvania (see Dela. Riverkeeper Loses Fed. Court Case Against NEPA Pipeline). Riverkeeper argued that both the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the PA State Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) should not have issued Clean Water Act stream crossing permits for the project. Last week a federal court ruled that the U.S. Army Corps was well within its right to do so. This week the other shoe dropped. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third District ruled that the DEP was also within its right to issue a permit. In this case, two strikes and THE Delaware Riverkeeper is out. The project, which received full Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval in February of this year, remains on track to be built/online in June 2018…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA

Dela. Riverkeeper Loses Fed. Court Case Against NEPA Pipeline
August 24, 2017August 24, 2017

In March, Big Green group THE Delaware Riverkeeper (leftist political lobbying arm for the William Penn Foundation that funds it) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third District requesting the court overturn a Clean Water Act permit granted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for Kinder Morgan’s Orion Project in northeast Pennsylvania. Yesterday, in a humiliating defeat, the Third Circuit rejected Riverkeeper’s request and ruled the Army Corps was well within its right to grant the permit (full copy of the ruling below). In October 2015, Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) filed their official, full application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) seeking approval for the Orion Project (see Tennessee Gas Pipeline Files PA Orion Project with FERC). The project will cost $143 million and construct 13 miles of “looping” pipeline in Pike and Wayne counties, Pennsylvania. The project will boost capacity on the TGP by another 135 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d), allowing TGP to pump more Marcellus Shale gas to Mid-Atlantic and New England states. The project received full FERC approval in February of this year (see TGP Orion Project in NEPA Gets Final Approval by FERC). The project remains on track to be built/online in June 2018…
Read More “Dela. Riverkeeper Loses Fed. Court Case Against NEPA Pipeline”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kentucky | Kinder Morgan | MarkWest Energy | NGLs | Pipelines | Regulation | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

KM Plans to Convert Tennessee Gas Pipeline to Flow M-U NGLs South
August 22, 2017August 22, 2017

TGP – section of pipeline to reverse & convert to NGLs (click for larger version)

Here’s a story that wasn’t actively on our radar. It’s an old story, but is now in the news again with the recent quorum reestablished at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). In August 2013, exactly four years ago, midstream giant Kinder Morgan and competitor midstream company MarkWest Energy (now part of Marathon Petroleum) signed a joint venture agreement to repurpose a significant portion of Kinder’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline (964 miles of it) running from the Louisiana Gulf Coast to Ohio. That 964-mile portion of TGP currently flows natural gas from the Gulf northward. Kinder and MarkWest want to reverse the flow and instead flow natural gas liquids (NGL) through the pipeline from the Utica and Marcellus region south to the Gulf Coast. The project would also build a new 200-mile pipeline from TGP in Louisiana to Texas. In order to make the project happen, the first step is to ask FERC for permission to “abandon” (stop using) the 964-mile segment, called Pipeline No. 1, from Louisiana to Ohio. Which TGP did in Feb. 2015. The project progressed. Last November FERC issued a favorable environmental assessment for the project (full copy below). And then FERC lost a quorum of voting members in February of this year, stalling further progress. With a quorum now restored, antis in Kentucky, a state that seems to be allergic to any kind of pipeline for any purpose, have begun bellyaching about it. Which is what caught our attention. We’ve gathered together information we can find on this project–a potentially very important project–to move Marcellus/Utica NGLs to the Gulf Coast…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Crime | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Bunch of Old Hippies Arrested in Mass. for Blocking Pipeline Work
July 31, 2017April 20, 2022

Very early on when MDN editor Jim Willis began to write Marcellus Drilling News and he attended local meetings where fracking (and later pipelines) were discussed, he noticed a strange phenomenon: Many in the audience appeared to be old hippies–men with no hair on top, but long (gray) hair on the sides, still braided in a ponytail, all these years later, like it was back in the day when they smoked weed and protested the Vietnam war. Whenever Jim raises that observation he almost always gets vitriolic emails–because he hits a nerve. A little too much truth in what Jim writes. It is with some amusement we report more old hippies protesting once again. This time it’s in Massachusetts. On Saturday Massachusetts State Troopers arrested 22 people. When you look at their ages (and the pictures), you quickly come to the conclusion that this is yet another group of old hippies trying to relive the glory days. Their last chance to “make a difference” and protest “the man.” Only this time they’re protesting a 2-mile pipeline through a state forest–part of Kinder Morgan’s TGP Connecticut Expansion project. As we stated in a previous post, “Perhaps if pipelines flowed marijuana instead of fossil fuels, they’d feel differently about them?”…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Son of NED: Tennessee Gas Considers Another New England Pipeline
June 27, 2017June 27, 2017

Is Kinder Morgan’s NED pipeline project getting reincarnated?! You may recall that over a year ago, in April 2016, anti-fossil fuel nuts in Massachusetts and other northeastern states were orgasmic that Kinder Morgan announced the company had suspended (not necessarily canceled) any further spending/time/effort on the Tennessee Gas Pipeline expansion from NY through MA, otherwise known as the Northeast Energy Direct (NED) project (see NED is Dead – Kinder Morgan Suspends $3.3B New England Pipeline). Now antis are nervous again. On May 23, Kinder Morgan launched a new open season (copy below) for increased capacity/delivery along the Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) in New York, Massachusetts and New England. Kinder says while NED is truly dead, there’s still demand for more gas in New England they want to provide it. The company is (rightly) being cagey about how they will deliver that extra gas–if the market demand is there. Will it be a another pipeline, like NED? Will it be more compressor stations and pipeline “looping” along the existing route? Nobody knows yet. Sounds to us like this is shaping up to be Son of NED…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Litigation | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Indian Tribe Fights FERC Over Tiny Pipeline in Mass.
June 27, 2017June 27, 2017

In March 2016, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s (TGP) Connecticut Expansion project (see FERC Approves TGP Connecticut Expansion Pipeline Project). The project includes building 13.42 miles of new pipeline loops in three states: Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York. When completed, the new looping will serve an additional 72,100 dekatherms of (mostly) Marcellus Shale gas to three utility companies in Connecticut. The $86 million project is in no way connected to TGP’s now-dead Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline project. However, antis continue to pitch a fit and try to block the project. Can you imagine? They don’t want a single new inch of pipeline anywhere, for any reason. They are, in a word, insane. The latest tactic is to invoke the Indian gods to try and stop it. A local Indian tribe in Massachusetts has filed paperwork with FERC accusing the agency of violating the National Historic Preservation Act by not protecting “ceremonial stone landscapes” supposedly found along the path of the pipeline. If FERC refuses to “re-hear” their decision to allow the project, the Indians say they’ll sue in court…
Read More “Indian Tribe Fights FERC Over Tiny Pipeline in Mass.”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | NGLs | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH

UTOPIA NGL Pipeline Under Construction, Should be Online Jan 2018
June 9, 2017June 9, 2017

In January 2016, Kinder Morgan (KM) committed to building the UTOPIA (Utica To Ontario Pipeline Access) pipeline, a 12-inch ethane pipeline that will run ~240 miles across the state of Ohio where it will connect with another pipeline and (eventually) flow ethane all the way to a cracker plant in Canada (see Kinder Morgan Ready to Move Forward with UTOPIA East Pipeline). However, all was not utopia in UTOPIA–some Ohio landowners got a bumble bee in their bonnet and refused to deal, so KM took them to court (see UTOPIA Pipeline Sues Holdout OH Landowners Using Eminent Domain and UTOPIA Pipeline Still Battling OH Landowners with Eminent Domain). UTOPIA hit a brick wall in Wood County when a judge blocked the use of eminent domain in that county, saying the project does not benefit the public good (see Wood County OH Judge Blocks Eminent Domain for UTOPIA Pipeline). No worries. UTOPIA signed lease agreements with more reasonable landowners and altered the route to avoid the ones who don’t want it (UTOPIA East Pipe Re-Routes Around OH Antis, Drops Eminent Domain). Hey, some people don’t want a truckload of money, who are we to argue? Here’s an update: At a recent industry conference in Ohio, Allen Fore, KM’s vice president of public affairs, said UTOPIA is currently under construction and is due to go online in January 2018…
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Energy Services | Kinder Morgan

Kinder Morgan 1Q17: Profit Up 45%, M-U Projects Online in ’17
April 24, 2017April 24, 2017

Last week Kinder Morgan, the largest midstream (i.e. pipeline) company in the U.S., filed its first quarter 2017 update. 1Q17 saw a profit of $401 million, up $125 million (45%) from 1Q16. Revenue was up $229 million (7%) to $3.4 billion. And costs rose just $65 million (3%) to $2.4 billion. All in all a good start to 2017. However, as always, what we’re interested in is an update on key projects that Kinder Morgan is working on–projects that are located in or close to (with an impact on) the Marcellus/Utica region. Projects like the Utopia Pipeline in Ohio, the Elba Island LNG export facility in Georgia, the Orion Project in northeast PA, and the Louisiana pipeline project, going bi-directional to move our gas to the southwest. There were plenty of updates about projects of interest to the Marcellus/Utica (particularly those coming online in 2017) in the latest quarterly report…
Read More “Kinder Morgan 1Q17: Profit Up 45%, M-U Projects Online in ’17”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Litigation | NGLs | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Wood County (OH)

UTOPIA East Pipe Re-Routes Around OH Antis, Drops Eminent Domain
April 10, 2017April 10, 2017

In January 2016, Kinder Morgan committed to building the UTOPIA (Utica To Ontario Pipeline Access) pipeline, a 12-inch ethane pipeline that will run ~240 miles across the state of Ohio where it will connect with another pipeline and (eventually) flow ethane all the way to a cracker plant in Canada (see Kinder Morgan Ready to Move Forward with UTOPIA East Pipeline). However, all was not utopia in UTOPIA–some Ohio landowners got a bumble bee in their bonnet and refused to deal, so KM took them to court (see UTOPIA Pipeline Sues Holdout OH Landowners Using Eminent Domain and UTOPIA Pipeline Still Battling OH Landowners with Eminent Domain). UTOPIA hit a brick wall in Wood County when a judge blocked the use of eminent domain in that county, saying the project does not benefit the public good (see Wood County OH Judge Blocks Eminent Domain for UTOPIA Pipeline). No worries. UTOPIA has been hard at work and has signed lease agreements with more reasonable landowners and is altering the route to avoid the ones who don’t want it. Hey, some people don’t want a truckload of money, who are we to argue? As we previously reported, tree clearing began in February (see Utopia has Arrived! Construction in OH Begins on Ethane Pipeline). KM says construction on the actual pipeline will begin later this month. Here’s the latest, about UTOPIA changing the route in Wood County to avoid those who don’t want it…
Read More “UTOPIA East Pipe Re-Routes Around OH Antis, Drops Eminent Domain”
CNG/LNG | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan

Kinder Morgan Sells 49% Stake in Elba Island LNG to EIG for $555M
March 2, 2017March 1, 2017

Elba Island LNG facility

Kinder Morgan’s Elba Island, Georgia (near Savannah) LNG export facility received a green light from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last June (see KM’s Elba Island LNG Export Plant Approved by FERC). Kinder has since started construction at the site. In December, the U.S. Dept. of Energy granted Elba Island permission to export LNG to non-Free Trade Agreement countries (see Elba Island LNG Update: Non-FTA Exports Approved, Dump Truck City). What does the Georgia’s Elba LNG plant have to do with Marcellus/Utica? The Williams Transco pipeline runs through Georgia. Kinder owns and operates the 200-mile Elba Express pipeline, which connects the LNG facility to the Transco. Currently Elba Island imports LNG, getting it to market via the Transco. However, Williams has been on a mission to send Marcellus gas south–including to Georgia (see Marcellus Gas Heading to Georgia via Transco Pipeline). Marcellus Shale gas will, via the Transco, be at least some of, if not the primary, source for gas exported from the Elba Island facility. Although work continues at the facility, Kinder has decided they can use some money to help finish the project–so they’ve just sold a 49% stake in the project to investment firm EIG Global Energy Partners for $555 million. When the project is complete, Kinder says it will be worth $1.3 billion. So EIG got 49% of a $1.3 billion project (or $637 million worth of value) for $555 million. Sounds like EIG got a good deal, or perhaps Kinder was a tad desperate for the cash?…
Read More “Kinder Morgan Sells 49% Stake in Elba Island LNG to EIG for $555M”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pennsylvania | Pike County | Pipelines | Regulation | Tennessee Gas Pipeline | Wayne County

TGP Orion Project in NEPA Gets Final Approval by FERC
February 6, 2017February 6, 2017

TGP Orion Project map – click for larger version

In October 2015, Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) filed their official, full application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) seeking approval for their Orion Project (see Tennessee Gas Pipeline Files PA Orion Project with FERC). The project will cost $143 million and construct 13 miles of “looping” pipeline in Pike and Wayne counties, Pennsylvania. The project will boost capacity on the TGP by another 135 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d), allowing TGP to pump more Marcellus Shale gas to Mid-Atlantic and New England states. According to the original plan, the TGP Orion upgrade will be complete and in-service by June 2018. TGP told FERC if they didn’t get an approval by Jan. 31, all bets are off on the timing for building the project (see Kinder Morgan Asks FERC to Approve Orion Pipe Project by Jan 31). It was Feb. 3 and not Jan. 31, but we’re betting the project will now get done on time–because FERC granted the necessary certificate on Friday…
Read More “TGP Orion Project in NEPA Gets Final Approval by FERC”
Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | NGLs | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH

Utopia has Arrived! Construction in OH Begins on Ethane Pipeline
February 2, 2017February 2, 2017

Kinder Morgan has proposed the UTOPIA (Utica To Ontario Pipeline Access) pipeline, a 12-inch ethane pipeline that will run ~240 miles across the state of Ohio where it will connect with another pipeline and (eventually) flow ethane all the way to a cracker plant in Canada. That is, if they can get some holdout landowners to allow them onto their land (see UTOPIA Pipeline Sues Holdout OH Landowners Using Eminent Domain; UTOPIA Pipeline Still Battling OH Landowners with Eminent Domain; and Wood County, OH Judge Blocks Eminent Domain for UTOPIA Pipeline). Apparently enough land has now been secured that Kinder Morgan is moving forward. Yesterday crews started their chainsaws and began to clear trees to make way for the bulldozers that will show up this summer…
Read More “Utopia has Arrived! Construction in OH Begins on Ethane Pipeline”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pennsylvania | Pike County | Pipelines | Regulation | Tennessee Gas Pipeline | Wayne County

Kinder Morgan Asks FERC to Approve Orion Pipe Project by Jan 31
January 18, 2017January 18, 2017

In October 2015, Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) filed their official, full application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) seeking approval for their Orion Project (see Tennessee Gas Pipeline Files PA Orion Project with FERC). The project will cost $143 million and construct 13 miles of “looping” pipeline in Pike and Wayne counties, Pennsylvania. The project will boost capacity on the TGP by another 135 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d), allowing TGP to pump more Marcellus Shale gas to Mid-Atlantic and New England states. According to the original plan, the TGP Orion upgrade will be complete and in-service by June 2018. They still want to meet that timetable–but can’t unless FERC gets off their rear-ends and approves the project. So TGP filed an official request with FERC to get Orion approved by January 31st. Otherwise, all bets are off for a June 2018 in-service date…
Read More “Kinder Morgan Asks FERC to Approve Orion Pipe Project by Jan 31”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Regulation

KM Files to Reverse Louisiana Pipe, Send Marcellus Gas to Gulf
December 20, 2016December 20, 2016

Seems like every few weeks we read about yet another pipeline either getting built, or reversed, in order to send Marcellus/Utica gas to other parts of the country. The latest one that surprised us (hadn’t heard of it before) is Kinder Morgan’s plan to add bidirectional capacity to their Kinder Morgan Louisiana pipeline (KMLP) to flow gas to Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass LNG export facility. KMLP is a pipeline in Louisiana–how does reversing it get Marcellus gas to Sabine Pass? As you might have guessed, KMLP connects with other pipeline systems, including Columbia Gulf Transmission and ANR Pipeline. Both of those pipeline systems, which flow Marcellus gas, are adding bidirectional capacity as well. When it’s all done, (more of) our gas will head to Sabine Pass for liquefaction and then export to other countries. How cool is that? Here’s an update on KMLP changing directions…
Read More “KM Files to Reverse Louisiana Pipe, Send Marcellus Gas to Gulf”
CNG/LNG | Energy Services | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Regulation

Elba Island LNG Update: Non-FTA Exports Approved, Dump Truck City
December 20, 2016December 20, 2016

Elba Island LNG

Kinder Morgan’s Elba Island, Georgia (near Savannah) proposed LNG export facility received a green light from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in June (see KM’s Elba Island LNG Export Plant Approved by FERC). Kinder has since started construction at the site. Further good news: the U.S. Dept. of Energy has just granted Elba Island permission to export LNG to non-Free Trade Agreement countries. What does the Georgia’s Elba LNG plant have to do with Marcellus/Utica? The Williams Transco pipeline runs through Georgia. Kinder owns and operates the 200-mile Elba Express pipeline, which connects the LNG facility to the Transco. Currently Elba Island imports LNG, getting it to market via the Transco. However, Williams has been on a mission to send Marcellus gas south–including to Georgia (see Marcellus Gas Heading to Georgia via Transco Pipeline). Marcellus Shale gas will, via the Transco, be at least some of, if not the primary, source for gas exported from the Elba Island facility. After getting FERC approval, Kinder began work on the expansion project last month. Currently some 325 dump trucks come and go every day at the site (7,800 per month!). Below is the news about DOE granting permission for non-FTA exports to Elba, along with an update on the frenetic pace of activity to build the new facility…
Read More “Elba Island LNG Update: Non-FTA Exports Approved, Dump Truck City”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kentucky | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Regulation | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

FERC Allows KM to Begin Broad Run Expansion Project in KY
December 9, 2016December 9, 2016

Last week MDN brought you news about Kinder Morgan’s Broad Run Expansion Project will expand transportation capacity of natural gas on the existing Tennessee Gas Pipeline system. Antis tried to stop the project, but FERC rejected their pleas (see FERC Denies Anti Request to Stop KM’s Broad Run Expansion Project). The Broad Run Expansion includes the construction of two new compressor stations in Kanawha County, WV, one new compressor station in Davidson County, TN, and one new compressor station in Madison County, KY. Tennessee Gas also expects to increase compression capacity by modifying two of its existing compressor stations in Powell and Boyd counties in KY by replacing existing capacity with new, higher-rated horsepower compression units. The project will provide an extra 200,000 dekatherms per day (Dth/d) of transportation capacity along the same capacity path as the Broad Run Flexibility project, which was placed in service on Nov. 1, 2015. All of the additional gas will come from Antero Resources and their Marcellus/Utica program. On Wednesday FERC gave Kinder Morgan permission to upgrade the two existing compressor stations in KY, but (for now) that’s all–something called a “partial notice to proceed”…
Read More “FERC Allows KM to Begin Broad Run Expansion Project in KY”