More Marcellus/Utica Gas Begins to Flow to Chicago Area via NGPL
More Utica/Marcellus natural gas will begin flowing to the Chicago area beginning next Tuesday, Nov. 1. In June 2014 MDN brought you the news that the mighty Rockies Express (REX) pipeline was reversing the flow on the eastern end of the pipeline, to send Utica/Marcellus gas from Ohio all the way to points in Indiana and Illinois (see Rockies Express Pipeline Reverses Flow from Utica to Midwest). In October 2014 MDN reported Kinder Morgan’s subsidiary Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (NGPL) announced plans to expand their Gulf Coast mainline pipeline from the REX pipeline interconnection in Moultrie County, Illinois, to points north on NGPL’s pipeline system, called the Chicago Market Expansion Project (see Kinder Morgan Plans Chicago Pipeline Expansion for Marcellus/Utica). In March of this year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved it (see FERC Approves Pipeline to Move More Marcellus/Utica Gas to Chicago). Great news! The work is done, and FERC has just granted permission to NGPL to start up the compressor station next Tuesday that will deliver more gas to Chicagoland…
Read More “More Marcellus/Utica Gas Begins to Flow to Chicago Area via NGPL”
Kinder Morgan, the largest midstream company in the U.S., posted their third quarter 2016 update on Wednesday. The company reports its first financial loss of the year, swinging from making $186 million in 3Q15 to losing $227 million in 3Q16. A lot of that was a paper loss–a writedown on the value of the Midcontinent Express Pipeline, and from expenses incurred from the sale of their part-ownership in the Southern Natural Gas system. As they usually do, Kinder offered updates for their major pipeline projects. The one that caught our eye is news that Kinder plans to begin construction in December of the Broad Run Expansion Project increasing capacity along the Tennessee Gas Pipeline from West Virginia to Mississippi and Louisiana, allowing Antero Resources to ship more Marcellus/Utica gas to the southeast. Here’s the Kinder update…
Kinder Morgan’s UTOPIA (Utica To Ontario Pipeline Access) pipeline is a 12-inch ethane pipeline that will run ~240 miles and will only be built in Ohio–therefore the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) won’t be involved in permitting the project. In September we noted that Kinder Morgan is still facing opposition from some Ohio landowners (see 
In April 2015 Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) subsidiary filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build 8.2 miles of new looping pipeline in Tioga County, PA and beef up two compressor stations in Bradford County, PA. The $142 million project is called the Susquehanna West Project. The project will increase capacity along a section of the TGP, bumping it up by 145 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d). All of the extra capacity is spoken for by Statoil and the wells they’ve drilled in NEPA. Good news: On Tuesday FERC issued their approval for the project, which means construction will begin in January 2017…
Three radicalized environmental groups–the Allegheny Defense Project, the Appalachian Mountain Advocates and Damascus Citizens for Sustainability–have filed a motion with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to challenge FERC’s approval of three tiny pipeline expansion projects in Pennsylvania. Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s 300 line is proposing to expand three different segments of the line, serving different customers, and rightfully asked FERC to consider the three projects as separate and to not commingle them together. The radicalized groups are insisting FERC evaluate all three bundled together, in an attempt to slow down and hopefully stop progress on the projects…
Anti-fossil fuel nuts in Massachusetts and other northeastern states are euphoric, actually orgasmic, at Kinder Morgan’s announcement yesterday that the company has 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. Here’s what Kinder Morgan’s announcement means for natural gas customers, at least in certain parts of Massachusetts: If you build a new house, or a new business, and want to connect it to the natgas system in your community, forget about it. You can’t. There’s not enough gas. And if you’re an existing customer and want to convert your electric stove or electric hot water heater or oil furnace to a natgas alternative–don’t do it. If the local utility finds out, they’ll shut you off completely. Why? Not enough gas. So here’s something you anti fossil fuel freaks can really celebrate–you’ve just screwed yourselves, AND your neighbors too! A 2-for-1 deal…