Energy Services

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    Constitution Pipeline Appeals NY Fight Directly to U.S. Supreme Court

    U.S. Supreme Court

    “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated” – Mark Twain (and Constitution Pipeline). Last week it was our duty to report the sad news that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission found they could not override the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) decision (under pressure from the corrupt Andrew Cuomo) to block the Constitution Pipeline (see Death of the Constitution Pipeline? FERC Refuses to Overrule NY DEC). FERC found, after an exhaustive investigation, that the DEC had suckered Constitution into refiling a second time, restarting the one-year clock under which NY could render a decision about the pipeline. With four days left on the reset clock, DEC issued a denial of Constitution’s request for a federal water crossing permit (see NY Gov. Cuomo Refuses to Grant Permits for Constitution Pipeline). Constitution went to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to overturn DEC’s decision, but ultimately failed (see Court Rejects Constitution Pipe’s Case Against NY DEC; Now What?). With FERC refusing to act, we asked the question last week, Is this the death of the $683 million, 124-mile pipeline from Susquehanna County, PA to Schoharie County, NY to move Marcellus gas into NY and New England? We reached out to Williams and MDN was first to report that Williams said they would continue to fight. And so they have! In a statement issued Tuesday, Williams (i.e. Constitution Pipeline) said they have appealed the Second Circuit’s decision to the U.S. Supreme Court (full copy of the appeal below). Williams maintains if the Second Circuit’s decision upholding the corrupt DEC is allowed to stand, it sets a dangerous precedent for rogue states like NY who refuse to obey the strict interpretation of the law. That is, it allows states like NY to simply reinterpret the law any old which way they want. And that can’t stand…
    Read More “Constitution Pipeline Appeals NY Fight Directly to U.S. Supreme Court”

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    Rover Refutes Ohio EPA Claim of 146K Gal. Spill @ Tuscarawas River

    Yesterday we brought you the news that the Ohio Dept. of Environmental Protection (OEPA) had made claims, in a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), that Rover Pipeline’s restart of underground horizontal directional drilling (HDD) near the Tuscarawas River had resulted in a second large spill of drilling mud–146,000 gallons (see OEPA Continues to Hunt Rover Pipe, Claims 2nd Spill Near River). OEPA claims to have spies that told them that while drilling 146,000 gallons of drilling mud had disappeared “down hole.” That typically means the mud will reappear somewhere on the surface. OEPA does not regulate the Rover project–it is a FERC/federally regulated project. And that frosts OEPA’s director, tattletale Craig Butler. Except this time it appears OEPA was mistaken, or perhaps acting on bad information. According to a statement by Energy Transfer, builder of Rover, there has been no “release” or “spill” of drilling mud a second time at the Tuscarawas River site…
    Read More “Rover Refutes Ohio EPA Claim of 146K Gal. Spill @ Tuscarawas River”

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    Lancaster Nuns Demand “Religious Freedom” Trial re Pipeline

    A group of radicalized Catholic nuns whom we refer to as Sisters of the Corn are demanding a trial on the grounds of “religious freedom” in an effort to block Williams’ Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline from crossing their land in Lancaster County, PA. The order of nuns, called Adorers of the Blood of Christ, have tried several strategies to derail Atlantic Sunrise. One of stunts they pulled, in league with a radical Big Green group, is to stick a few wooden park benches in the middle of a corn field that they own (leased to a local farmer), calling it a “chapel” (see Catholic Nuns Use Radicals to Build Chapel in Path of PA Pipeline). Which is why MDN dubbed them “Sisters of the Corn.” The heck of it is that the Sisters use natural gas to heat an old folks home they operate at the same address! Talk about religious hypocrisy. The Sisters used the chapel-in-the-corn as an excuse to sue the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) over their approval of Atlantic Sunrise on the grounds that running the pipeline through their corn field violates their religious freedom (see Lancaster Nuns Sue FERC to Stop Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline). A federal judge in Reading, PA dismissed the frivolous lawsuit in September (see Fed Judge Tosses Lancaster Nuns’ Freedom of Religion Lawsuit re ASP). The Sisters, using Big Green lawyers, have just appealed the dismissal, hoping they can find a liberal judge somewhere, anywhere, to hear the case…
    Read More “Lancaster Nuns Demand “Religious Freedom” Trial re Pipeline”

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    Ohio Continues to Drag Feet Approving Mountaineer NGL Storage

    We’ve written plenty about Mountaineer NGL Storage hub project proposed for Monroe County, OH, located just across the river (and border) from West Virginia (see our Mountaineer NGL Storage stories here). What do we know about the proposed project? The Colorado company behind the project plans to spend up to $500 million to build it; some 20 drillers have expressed interest in contracting with the facility to store ethane; and the nearby PTT Global cracker plant project (if it gets built) and the under-construction Shell cracker plant are both interested in connections to the facility. In November, we learned there is a construction delay until mid-this year (see Yet Another Update on Stalled Mountaineer NGL Storage Proj in OH). Why the delay? The delay is because of regulators in Ohio. There is no one agency charged with reviewing and issuing permits for the entire project–it involves three OH agencies. There also seems to be an issue with one of the agencies, the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR), becoming comfortable with storing NGLs in a salt cavern (done all the time in other locations). ODNR is dragging its feet, and members of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association (OOGA) are beginning to publicly voice their dissatisfaction with the delays…
    Read More “Ohio Continues to Drag Feet Approving Mountaineer NGL Storage”

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    OEPA Continues to Hunt Rover Pipe, Claims 2nd Spill Near River

    Ohio EPA (OEPA) director Craig Butler, aka Captain Ahab, continues his mission to harpoon that rascally great white whale known as the Rover Pipeline. Somehow Captain Ahab, er, a, Mr. Butler has “learned” that underground horizontal directional drilling (HDD) Rover was recently allowed (by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) to resume near the Tuscarawas River (over the objections of OEPA) has “lost” 146,000 gallons of drilling mud “down hole.” This is at the same location where Rover previously lost 2 million gallons of drilling mud down hole, some of which turned up back on the surface, at a swamp (aka “wetland”) located next to the Tuscarawas (see Rover Pipeline Accident Spills ~2M Gal. Drilling Mud in OH Swamp). That 2 million gallon “spill” in April of last year triggered a shutdown of all HDD work in Ohio. It was only in December that Rover was allowed, by FERC, to resume more HDD work at the Tuscarawas site (see FERC Gives Rover OK to Resume All HDD Work, Incl. Tuscarawas River). Butler’s spies have reported to him that more drilling mud, some 146,000 gallons, has disappeared into the earth during HDD drilling at the Tuscarawas site. Some perspective on this alleged news: First, how did Butler even know of a “problem”? OEPA doesn’t regulate the Rover project! Second, since Rover doesn’t answer to OEPA (which frosts Butler), Butler runs like a tattling child to FERC with every perceived violation he can trump up–even though he doesn’t have all the facts. Third, even though drilling mud may disappear down hole, that doesn’t mean the mud comes back to the surface. Sometimes it stays down there–forever. Fourth, even if the mud does come back to the surface, drilling mud is nontoxic–the same stuff used in kitty litter, cosmetics and toothpaste. The only thing an overabundance of spilled mud can do is smother a few fish. This latest ploy by Butler to tattle on Rover to FERC is his attempt to try and manipulate FERC into shutting down Rover’s HDD work once again…
    Read More “OEPA Continues to Hunt Rover Pipe, Claims 2nd Spill Near River”

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    Rover Pipe Flows: Where Does the Gas Come From? Where Does it Go?

    Rover map – click for larger version

    We brought you news today about Rover Pipeline and a possible second drilling mud spill in the Tuscarawas River area (see OEPA Continues to Hassle Rover Pipe, Claims 2nd Spill Near River). The Ohio EPA continues its quest to hassle Rover. So we thought it fitting to bring you information about how Rover has, in the short few months it has been operating, changed the natural gas picture in the Midwest. Rover Pipeline is the largest pipeline being built in the Utica/Marcellus region (capacity-wise). When done, Rover will flow 3.25 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of Utica and Marcellus Shale gas to various points west and (eventually) north, into Canada. With the latest portions of Rover going online in December and with much of the pipeline as it traverses Ohio done, the pipeline now flows 1.7 Bcf/d–half of what it will eventually flow, by the end of March this year. The ace team at RBN Energy recently researched where all that gas is coming from, and where it’s flowing to, along Rover. We found it fascinating and think you will too…
    Read More “Rover Pipe Flows: Where Does the Gas Come From? Where Does it Go?”

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    FERC Denies CORNball, Sierra Club Request to Stop NEXUS Pipeline

    NEXUS Pipeline, a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada, is now under construction. NEXUS got final approval for the project from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in August, the first major pipeline to get approved following a newly restored quorum at FERC (see New FERC Quorum Votes Final Approval for NEXUS Pipeline). However, radical environmental groups have fought the project tooth and nail. CORN (Coalition to ReRoute Nexus, folks we call CORNballs), and the far-left Sierra Club, launched lawsuits and regulatory actions against the pipeline. One such action was to file a request last fall for a rehearing of FERC’s decision to approve the project (see CORNballs, Sierra Club Continue to Fight NEXUS Pipeline in Court). A rehearing is the first step to take, a necessary step before Big Green groups can legally file a lawsuit against the project. In what is being characterized as a blow to the CORNballs and their buddies at the Sierra Club, FERC last week denied that request for a rehearing of the NEXUS approval, meaning it looks like clear sailing for NEXUS to complete their project, even with various lawsuits pending…
    Read More “FERC Denies CORNball, Sierra Club Request to Stop NEXUS Pipeline”

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    Death of the Constitution Pipeline? FERC Refuses to Overrule NY DEC

    This is a bitter and sad day. The five Commissioners of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released a decision yesterday (copy below) that FERC will not overrule an illegal decision by the corrupt Cuomo Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to block construction of the Constitution Pipeline (which FERC approved in 2014). Is this truly “lights out” for the Constitution? It would seem so. Cuomo’s DEC took more than two years to evaluate and eventually reject the Constitution Pipeline–a $683 million, 124-mile pipeline from Susquehanna County, PA to Schoharie County, NY to move Marcellus gas into NY and New England (see NY Gov. Cuomo Refuses to Grant Permits for Constitution Pipeline). Constitution went to federal court to overturn that decision, but ultimately failed last August (see Court Rejects Constitution Pipe’s Case Against NY DEC; Now What?). But then a ray of hope appeared in the galaxy. FERC overruled NY DEC in another pipeline case, so Constitution filed a request with FERC to overrule NY DEC in their case (see Constitution Pipeline Asks FERC to Override NY DEC). FERC wanted to overrule DEC again. You can read between the lines and detect it in yesterday’s decision. But ultimately FERC could not overrule the DEC because the DEC rejected the permit with four days left ticking on a one-year clock (we explain it all below). So this question: Are all avenues exhausted for Constitution? Is the ray of hope in the galaxy now extinguished? Will evil (i.e., the Cuomo-corrupted DEC) rule the galaxy? According to Williams, Constitution’s builder, the answer is an emphatic, “NO!” Williams will first file with FERC, asking them to rehear their decision (which we don’t think is likely). If FERC denies the rehearing request, Williams is prepared to appeal FERC’s decision to federal court…
    Read More “Death of the Constitution Pipeline? FERC Refuses to Overrule NY DEC”

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    Following Constitution Pipe Decision, NY Virtual Pipe Now Vital

    1/24/18 Note: We have edited this post to be less incendiary and more respectful of the opposing viewpoint.

    Yesterday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejected a request by Constitution Pipeline to overrule the (very corrupt) New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation and allow construction of the pipeline to commence (see our lead story today: Death of the Constitution Pipeline? FERC Refuses to Overrule NY DEC). As we report in that story, Williams is not (yet) giving up the hope and dream of building the Constitution. However, given that tree clearing for the pipeline would have to begin now, and be done by the end of March (in order to save the bats–don’t ask), another year will go by before the Constitution could even begin construction. And it will take a year to build. That’s IF Williams prevails in court. In the meantime, businesses in New York State are DESPERATE to receive shipments of natural gas. Major employers in the Southern Tier of New York had planned to tap into the Constitution and use cheap, abundant, clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas from Pennsylvania, saving them money and lowering emissions. Without the Constitution, what can these employers do? Yes, they can leave the state (and some already have). But there is a solution. NG Advantage is planning to build a “virtual pipeline” in the Town of Fenton, on the outer edge of Binghamton, NY (Broome County). A virtual pipeline is a compressor plant (series of compressor plants) that grabs gas from a pipeline–in this case the Millennium Pipeline–and compresses it and loads it onto special tractor trailers that then deliver the gas to industrial customers like manufacturing plants, hospitals, and even small regional gas distribution systems servicing residential homes. NG’s project got derailed last year when a group of residents living nearby sued, stopping the project in its tracks (see Broome Virtual Pipe Project in Limbo, Fenton Board Refuses to Act). The residents claim three trucks per hour going through side streets will negatively alter the neighborhood. It’s bogus. NG is undaunted. They have patiently, calmly and repeatedly reached out to the community to answer questions and address concerns. NG has more than bent over backwards in an attempt to work with community. NG followed the judge’s directive and refiled the project with the Town of Fenton for a second time. There is a Fenton zoning board hearing at 6 pm on Tuesday, Jan. 23 at the Port Crane Fire Department to consider NG’s refiled request. Residents who are opposed are already gearing up to pressure board members. Pro-gas folks need to show up in large numbers to show the zoning board there is support for this vital project. Let’s not let the other side win this one! Jobs in, indeed the future of, the Southern Tier depend on it…
    Read More “Following Constitution Pipe Decision, NY Virtual Pipe Now Vital”

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    Dominion Files FERC Request to Expand Pipeline from PA to OH

    On Wednesday, Dominion Energy filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to expand capacity along the existing Dominion Energy Transmission Inc. (DETI) pipeline from Pennsylvania to Ohio. Why? To flow more gas that will be used to generate electricity for the Midwest market. The project, called the Sweden Valley Project, is projected to cost $48 million and add another 120 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of PA Marcellus Shale gas to the existing flow along DETI. Dominion says all 120 MMcf/d are already contracted and spoken for–by an unnamed customer. Notice the headline says “expand” and not “extend.” This project would build a tiny three miles of new pipeline, with the new pipeline lying next to existing pipeline (in Greene County, PA). The only greenfield construction is building a 1.75-mile pipeline to connect with the Tennessee Gas Pipeline in Tuscarawas County, OH. The other main part of the project is updating three units a compressor station in Licking County, OH. In the constellation of pipeline projects that disturb earth and disrupt landowners, this one is pretty minor–yet it will deliver big results by flowing an extra 120 MMcf/d of gas west to a new market…
    Read More “Dominion Files FERC Request to Expand Pipeline from PA to OH”

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    Uh-Oh: Cove Point LNG Exports Possibly Delayed Until April

    We’ve been waiting, with bated breath, for an announcement from Dominion Energy that their $4 billion LNG export terminal is finally (finally!) up and running and shipping out condensed Marcellus/Utica Shale gas as LNG, heading to Japan and India. In April of last year, Dominion said the plant would be up and running, shipping LNG to India beginning this month (see Dominion Cove Point to Begin LNG Exports to India in Jan 2018). Dominion began priming the pump with an initial load of feed gas in early December (see Dominion Cove Point LNG Export – Dress Rehearsal Begins). But by the end of the month, Dominion signaled a full startup at the facility may be delayed, until an unspecified “early next year” (see Dominion Signals Delay in Cove Point Start-up; Contract Related?). In a blockbuster story, NGI’s Daily Gas Price Index is reporting (based on a super secret source who talked to Bloomberg) that commercial startup of the Cove Point facility will now not happen until (gasp), April of this year. Why the delay? NGI spoke to their own experts who have a plausible theory…
    Read More “Uh-Oh: Cove Point LNG Exports Possibly Delayed Until April”

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    Old Hippies Turn Out at WV DEP Hearing to Oppose Mountaineer Pipe

    In April 2017, MDN brought you the news that Columbia Pipeline (now owned by TransCanada) had filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build a 3.5 mile, 8-inch pipeline that will carry natural gas from Pennsylvania to connect the Mountaineer Gas system in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia with the Columbia Gas Pipeline in Pennsylvania (see New 3.5 Mile Pipeline Project to Drill Under the Potomac River). That small section of pipeline is hotly opposed and part of the larger Eastern Panhandle Expansion project–a project to deliver natural gas via local distribution channels (local utility Mountaineer Gas) to a new industrial facility in Berkeley County, WV, and to provide gas to other local businesses and residents in the Tri-State area. There are three phases to the Eastern Panhandle Expansion project: Phase One runs a 22.5-mile, 10-inch-diameter steel pipeline from Morgan County to Martinsburg; Phase Two includes a loop to Charles Town; and Phase Three will build a four mile segment of pipeline into Martinsburg. The WV Dept. of Environmental Protection held a hearing on Phase One on Tuesday, at the Berkeley Springs High School. All of the people who spoke at the hearing, some 33 of the 80 people present, spoke against the project. If you look at a picture of the crowd, you’d swear you were at a ZZ Top look-alike convention. That is, a bunch of old hippies. Here’s a report on the Tuesday hearing…
    Read More “Old Hippies Turn Out at WV DEP Hearing to Oppose Mountaineer Pipe”

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    Patterson-UTI Issues Half Billion $ of New Debt to Pay Off Old Debt

    Each month MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for rig count health in general and rig count health in the Marcellus/Utica in particular (see our Patterson stories here). Patterson operates many rigs in the Marcellus/Utica region, hence our interest in the company and what it does. Yesterday Patterson announced it wants to get $525 million (over half a billion dollars) for newly floated IOUs, called “notes” in the financial world. This is nothing new–for Patterson or most other publicly-traded companies in the oil and gas industry. We always marvel at how big finance works. The stated reason for floating over a half billion in new notes is…to pay off older notes. That is, they are floating new debt to pay off old debt, plus a little extra change “for general corporate purposes.” The new notes will be “guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis.” How does that work? Doesn’t “unsecured” mean “nothing backing it up”? How do you guarantee something with nothing? We’re not picking on Patterson–well, maybe just a little. We’re pointing out our own lack of understanding in how companies can continuously issue new debt for old debt. Won’t the piper need to be paid some day? Apparently today is not that day! Here’s the latest new-debt-for-old debt announcement…
    Read More “Patterson-UTI Issues Half Billion $ of New Debt to Pay Off Old Debt”

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    Nine Energy Service Launches $160M IPO

    Nine Energy Service, an oilfield services company that competes with companies like Halliburton and Baker Hughes, operates in a number of shale basins, including the Marcellus/Utica. Nine was formed in 2014 by the combination of four existing oilfield services companies–Northern States Completions, Tripoint LLC, CDK Perforating and Integrated Production Services Canada. All four were portfolio companies of SCF Partners–a private equity firm investing in the oil and gas industry. The new company was named Nine Energy Service and is headquartered in Houston, TX. Why the unusual name of “Nine”? It’s aspirational. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being perfect, they aspire to be a 9, which is about as good as you can get. Hence the name, which is kind of cool. Nine announced yesterday it plans to go public with an initial public offering of 7 million shares. The company hopes to raise ~$160 million with the IPO…
    Read More “Nine Energy Service Launches $160M IPO”

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    Work on Mariner East 2 Continues Following “Stop Work” Order

    Last week MDN reported the news that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has suspended all construction work on the Mariner East 2 Pipeline (ME2) project until further notice (see PA DEP Caves to Big Green Pressure, Stops All Work on ME2 Pipeline). However, all doesn’t necessarily mean all. A Chester County, PA anti’s celebration of the stop work order came crashing down when she noticed that work was still happening in an area located near her home. How can this be?! It seems the DEP’s statement that “all construction must stop” means “all construction which the DEP permits and authorizes must stop,” which can be further defined as “anything that disturbs the ground.” If the work involves digging, shoveling, etc., it’s stopped. But there’s still plenty of work that can continue–work that is not permitted by the DEP, including welding pipes together. That’s what’s happening at the site in Chester County–and local antis desperate to stop ME2 are mad and discouraged that Sunoco Logistics Partners continues to keep at least some of their workers busy while the company works to get full construction activity restored…
    Read More “Work on Mariner East 2 Continues Following “Stop Work” Order”

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    Williams Marcellus Buildout Leads to Record Transco Pipe Volumes

    Transco Pipeline Map – click for larger version

    Williams’ Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco) is the largest natural gas pipeline (by volume pumped) in the United States. Transco and its various branches stretch from the Texas Gulf Coast all the way to New York City. As MDN previously reported, Transco completed five important expansion projects in 2017: Gulf Trace, Hillabee Phase 1, Dalton, New York Bay, and Virginia Southside II (see Transco Pipeline Update: 5th Expansion Done, More Coming 2018). Because of those expansions, Transco flowed a record-breaking, all-time high of 15.58 million dekatherms (15.58 billion cubic feet, or Bcf) of natural gas in a single day–on Jan. 5, 2018. That’s approximately 20% of all the natural gas consumed in the entire country on that day. Amazing! Two more important expansion projects that are part of the Transco system are due to complete construction and go online in 2018: Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline and Garden State Phase II. Atlantic Sunrise will feed 1.7 Bcf/day of Marcellus Shale gas from northeastern PA into the Transco system, moving it south. As an interesting aside, Cabot Oil & Gas will provide 1 Bcf/d out of the 1.7 Bcf/d on Atlantic Sunrise when it’s completed (see FERC Approves Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline! Cabot Grabs More Capacity). Here’s the Williams statement about their recent Transco record-breaking day…
    Read More “Williams Marcellus Buildout Leads to Record Transco Pipe Volumes”