MarkWest Energy

Beaver County | Columbiana County | Energy Services | Mahoning County | MarkWest Energy | Ohio | Pennsylvania

MarkWest Energy Buys an Ohio Short Line Railroad – Why?
October 3, 2013October 3, 2013

As we’re always fascinated with a good railroad story, our eyes perked up when we saw that a MarkWest subsidiary company is about to close a deal to purchase a 36-mile short line railroad from the Columbiana County (OH) Port Authority–for just $3 million. The railroad, known as the Youngstown & Southern Railroad, runs from Boardman (Mahoning County), OH through Columbiana, Rogers and Negley (all in Columbiana County), ending it’s tracks at Darlington (Beaver County), PA.

What will MarkWest do with a railroad? Right now, they’re being tight-lipped…
Read More “MarkWest Energy Buys an Ohio Short Line Railroad – Why?”
Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pipelines | West Virginia | Wetzel County

MarkWest Says NGL Pipeline in Wetzel County Repaired by Mid-Oct
September 30, 2013September 30, 2013

In August, a landslide in Wetzel County, WV hit a MarkWest natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline that connects MarkWest Energy’s Mobley and Majorsville processing plants. The landslide caused the NGL pipeline to rupture, spilling NGLs onto the ground and into a local creek (see MarkWest Continues Cleanup at NGL Pipeline Spill in WV).

Last Friday, MarkWest provided the following update (below) which says they are working diligently to get the pipeline repaired and the Mobley facility operating again (which remains closed until the pipeline is working). Their current estimate for when the pipeline and Mobley will be back online? Mid-October…
Read More “MarkWest Says NGL Pipeline in Wetzel County Repaired by Mid-Oct”
Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | NGLs | Pipelines | West Virginia | Wetzel County

MarkWest Continues Cleanup at NGL Pipeline Spill in WV
September 16, 2013September 16, 2013

About a month ago, a natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline that connects MarkWest Energy’s Mobley and Majorsville facilities ruptured after a landslide hit it (Wetzel County, WV). The pipeline spilled onto the ground and into a nearby stream causing a fish kill (see Landslide Causes MarkWest NGL Pipeline in WV to Rupture/Spill). The West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection has “cited” MarkWest, meaning there will be a fine at some point once the full extent of the damage is known.

In the meantime, MarkWest is working to clean it up. An update on progress at the spill site…
Read More “MarkWest Continues Cleanup at NGL Pipeline Spill in WV”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Ohio | Processing Plants | Shell | Statewide OH

OH Still in the Running for an Ethane Cracker? Maybe
August 22, 2013August 22, 2013

Ohio’s dream to be the future host of an ethane cracker plant is still very much alive, according to U.S. Sen. Rob Portman from Ohio. Portman, along with Greg Sullivan, area manager for MarkWest Energy, spoke at the Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association meeting yesterday. According to Sullivan, a source to ship the ethane produced by their plant to when it separates the ethane from the natural gas liquid stream is “our big challenge.” MarkWest’s only current option is to ship it to Canada via the Mariner West Sunoco pipeline (see Big News: Marcellus Ethane Now Exporting to Canada Cracker Plant). Starting next year and the year after, two more pipelines will come online to ship it to the Gulf Coast (the ATEX Express and the Bluegrass).

According to MarkWest, there is a “desperate need for a local ethane cracker.” Sen. Portman is hoping Ohio can supply that need, especially since Shell continues to “evaluate” its project to build a cracker plant in PA with no firm commitment or timeline to build it…
Read More “OH Still in the Running for an Ethane Cracker? Maybe”
Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | NGLs | Pipelines | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Landslide Causes MarkWest NGL Pipeline in WV to Rupture/Spill
August 20, 2013August 20, 2013

A landslide last week damaged a MarkWest Energy wet gas pipeline in Wetzel County, WV. The pipeline ruptured and spilled gas liquids onto the ground and into a nearby stream causing a fish kill. The pipeline connects MarkWest’s Mobley and Majorsville facilities. It was immediately shut down and will remain so for the foreseeable future until repairs are done.

The known details of the spill:
Read More “Landslide Causes MarkWest NGL Pipeline in WV to Rupture/Spill”
Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH

OH EPA Dings MarkWest Over Slurry Spills in OH Swamps
August 12, 2013August 12, 2013

Once upon a time here in the good old U.S. of A. we used to call large areas of stagnant, smelly, mosquito-infested pools of water what they are: swamps. Then came the so-called environmentalist movement that renamed the word “swamp” to the pristine-sounding word “wetland.” Gotta love a good euphemism. We used to drain swamps. Now we make people get permits to walk across them, for fear of killing a mosquito (no doubt carrying West Nile Virus). Such is the enlightened age in which we live.

MarkWest Energy, arguably the largest midstream company (pipelines and processing plants) in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region, is having trouble in–or more properly under–some of Ohio’s swamps. In drilling under some Ohio “wetlands” to install pipelines, MarkWest has leaked a non-toxic clay-and-water slurry on a number of occasions. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has told MarkWest recent spills are “unacceptable.” Ohio anti-drillers see it as an opportunity to shut down fracking (no pipelines, no way to get the gas and liquids to market). Fortunately, the Ohio EPA is a bit more level-headed than that, saying they prefer to work with companies like MarkWest to help them do better, not just shut them down…
Read More “OH EPA Dings MarkWest Over Slurry Spills in OH Swamps”
Economic Impact | EMG | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | MarkWest Energy | Ohio | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide OH | Tuscarawas County

2 New OH Projects: Cryo Processing Plant & NGL Pipeline to Gulf
August 8, 2013August 8, 2013

Looks like the Williams/Boardwalk Bluegrass NGL pipeline is about to get some competition. Yesterday, Kinder Morgan, MarkWest and The Energy and Minerals Group (EMG) announced a new joint venture on two projects aimed at the Marcellus/Utica Shale region. The first project is a 400 Mmcf/d cryogenic processing plant in Tuscarawas County, OH to separate raw natural gas into methane and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The second project is a new NGL pipeline that will, like the Bluegrass, run from Ohio all the way to the Gulf Coast. There’s no mention of how much the partners will invest in the two projects, but we believe it could easily approach $1 billion of new investment in the northeast.

This announcement is great economic news for Ohio (Tuscarawas County in particular), and great economic news for Marcellus/Utica drillers who need extra takeaway capacity for the NGLs they’re currently producing. The press release from Kinder Morgan with details about the two new projects:
Read More “2 New OH Projects: Cryo Processing Plant & NGL Pipeline to Gulf”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Range Resources Corp | Washington County

Washington County, PA Judge Continues Anti-Drilling Decisions
August 7, 2013

What if a county judge’s wife was an anti-drilling activist–so motivated by her fervor she knocks on area residents’ doors to ask for their signature on petitions to ban drilling. Do you think that might affect the objectivity of said judge? And what if that judge repeatedly rules against gas drillers in case after case? Do you think that might be evidence that said judge is not capable of setting aside his own bias? Yeah, we would think so too–and such is the case with Washington County, PA judge John DiSalle.

Earlier this year, Judge DiSalle blocked Range Resources from obtaining two permits to drill wells in Robinson Township (see Judge Refuses to Recuse Himself from Range v Robinson Twp Case). Judge DiSalle is back–this time on a different case. DiSalle is now refusing to allow Range and MarkWest Energy to build a compressor station in Cecil Township. See a trend here? Range and MarkWest are appealing DiSalle’s latest anti-drilling ruling to the PA Commonwealth Court…
Read More “Washington County, PA Judge Continues Anti-Drilling Decisions”
Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Washington County

MarkWest Served Violation Notice for Chartiers Processing Plant
August 1, 2013August 1, 2013

Two weeks ago a MarkWest Energy natural gas processing plant in Chartiers Township (Washington County), PA started belching out black smoke. According to MarkWest, “several events” happened as workers were attempting to bring online some new equipment (see Smoke at MarkWest Chartiers, PA Gas Processing Plant). On Monday, the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) slapped MarkWest with a notice of violation.

The DEP continues to investigate whether or not the Chartiers plant is still malfunctioning…
Read More “MarkWest Served Violation Notice for Chartiers Processing Plant”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County | Williams

Last Document Released in Hallowich v Range $750K Settlement
August 1, 2013August 7, 2013

It’s been a long struggle for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Washington (PA) Observer-Reporter, but they finally won–if you can call it a win. Last year, both newspapers sued to have a sealed court case opened. The case involves an off-the-record settlement between the Hallowich family in Washington County, PA and Range Resources, MarkWest Energy and Williams (see Pittsburgh Newspapers Sue to Unseal Drilling Court Case). The Hallowiches claimed nearby drilling and pipeline activity threatened the health of their family–in particular their two children. Range and the other plaintiffs elected to settle, but the case and all of the documents were closed as part of the settlement. So the newspapers sued to have the record opened.

In March of this year, a different judge reviewed the case and ordered the court documents be opened (see Judge Orders Range/Landowner Settlement in PA Made Public). Anti-drillers were disappointed to learn that there were no smoking guns–no admissions or evidence of any kind that drilling activity had polluted water, air, etc. In fact, among the documents was an affidavit signed by the Hallowiches stating that drilling had not caused any adverse health impacts for their family (see Affidavit in Range PA Settlement Shows No Drilling Health Impacts). However, there was one final document not made public by the court and the newspapers kept hounding. Success at last! The final document was released this week (copy embedded below). What does it say?…
Read More “Last Document Released in Hallowich v Range $750K Settlement”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | NGLs | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Range Resources Corp | Sunoco Logistics

Big News: Marcellus Ethane Now Exporting to Canada Cracker Plant
July 25, 2013July 25, 2013

Every now and again you come across a big, fat gold nugget of news in a press release. That happened for MDN today when we read yesterday’s press release from Range Resources, innocently announcing their second quarter 2013 results (see today’s story about Range). The gold nugget? Range reports that on July 21st their first deliveries of ethane via the Mariner West pipeline were made to Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. This is the first time ethane has made it to a processing (cracker) plant.

The little nugget of gold from Range, the only Marcellus driller (so far) to sell ethane…
Read More “Big News: Marcellus Ethane Now Exporting to Canada Cracker Plant”
Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Washington County

Smoke at MarkWest Chartiers, PA Gas Processing Plant
July 16, 2013July 16, 2013

MarkWest operates a large natural gas processing plant in Chartiers Township (Washington County), PA. In the past few years they doubled the size of the plant. Apparently the installation of more new equipment due to go online yesterday didn’t go as planned. Characterizing it as “several events,” automated safety equipment kicked in and burned off (or flared) propane at the plant–resulting in smoke that could be seen for miles.

The (scant) known details of what happened yesterday at the Chariters processing plant:
Read More “Smoke at MarkWest Chartiers, PA Gas Processing Plant”
Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | NGLs | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

MarkWest: $2.2B in Marcellus/Utica, Bring on the Cracker Plants!
July 15, 2013July 15, 2013

MarkWest Energy, a major Marcellus and Utica midstream company, is investing $2.2 billion in the Marcellus/Utica region in pipelines, processing and fractionation plants. According to MarkWest, they have enough work in the northeast to keep them expanding for the next five years. One of the main services offered by MarkWest is removing ethane from raw natural gas. Their plan is to ship the ethane to either Canada or the Gulf Coast via pipelines. However, they’d love it if the region had “several cracker plants.” Here we go again with more cracker talk!

A good overview of MarkWest’s several billion dollar investment in the northeast, and their belief that the region needs its own cracker plant:
Read More “MarkWest: $2.2B in Marcellus/Utica, Bring on the Cracker Plants!”
Doddridge County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pipelines | Summit Midstream | West Virginia

MarkWest Sells Doddridge County, WV Pipeline System to Raise Cash
June 6, 2013June 6, 2013

From the “hmm, that’s interesting” department: MarkWest Energy Partners yesterday announced they have sold their pipeline gathering system (but not their gas processing plant) in Doddridge County, WV to Summit Midstream Partners for $210 million in cash. MarkWest is the largest midstream company in the Marcellus and is quickly becoming the largest in the Utica as well. MDN previously reported on funding shortages for some of MarkWest’s projects in the Utica, a situation which we thought had been resolved in February (see MarkWest: We Just Banked $450M from EMG, Another $2.8B Available). Perhaps it was not resolved. This latest sale sure seems like MarkWest is trying to raise more money to keep some of their new projects afloat…
Read More “MarkWest Sells Doddridge County, WV Pipeline System to Raise Cash”
EMG | Energy Services | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Noble County | Ohio | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Utica Shale

MarkWest Announces Third Processing Plant in Noble County, OH
May 31, 2013May 31, 2013

MarkWest Energy is the biggest midstream company (pipelines and processing plants) in the Marcellus Shale. They’ve also set their sights on becoming the biggest midstream player in the Utica Shale, and they’re well on their way. Yesterday, MarkWest announced their joint venture with EMG, called MarkWest Utica, will build a third cryogenic gas processing plant at its Seneca processing complex in Noble County, Ohio. The new plant, which will add an additional 200 million cubic feet per day of capacity (MMcf/d), is scheduled to be completed in about a year and will service wet gas from Antero Resources’ Utica Shale wells. The first two Seneca plants will be online later this year.

Apparently MarkWest has cleared up any funding issues for building the new plant. Previously the MarkWest Utica jv ran low on money while building the first two Seneca plants and scrambled to get more cash, which they did in February (see MarkWest: We Just Banked $450M from EMG, Another $2.8B Available). Funding problems seem to be behind them now and it’s full speed ahead. Here’s the MarkWest press release which also gives a quick update on their Cadiz processing plant along with a fairly complete list of their customers for all of their Utica processing plants:
Read More “MarkWest Announces Third Processing Plant in Noble County, OH”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Research | Sunoco Logistics | Williams

3 Marcellus Midstream Companies Top Customer Satisfaction Survey
May 15, 2013May 15, 2013

EnergyPoint Research released an overview of their biannual Midstream Services Study this morning. Three companies with large Marcellus operations top the list Read More “3 Marcellus Midstream Companies Top Customer Satisfaction Survey”