Chevron Expands Deal with ET’s Lake Charles LNG to Buy 3 MTPA
Just as the pandemic began to unfold in early 2020, Shell pulled out of a 50/50 joint venture partnership with Energy Transfer (ET) to build a new LNG export facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana (see Shell Pulls Out of Lake Charles LNG Project, Energy Transfer Stays). Bad move on Shell’s part, if you ask us. Since that time, ET has continued to build support for the project. ET has still not made a final investment decision (FID) to commit billions of dollars, but each year that passes brings the company closer to an FID. In December, ET announced a new customer for its LNG when/if the plant gets built: Chevron. Yesterday, Chevron increased its commitment to the facility. Read More “Chevron Expands Deal with ET’s Lake Charles LNG to Buy 3 MTPA”
A Boston-based company, Gradiant, issued a press release to make a really big, really important announcement: The company’s lithium business, called alkaLi, will design, build, own, and operate a commercial lithium production facility in the Marcellus Shale Formation of Pennsylvania beginning in early 2026. The 
Ever so gradually, pipeline capacity to transport Marcellus/Utica molecules to other markets, particularly the Deep South, has been increasing. And it continues to grow, gradually. Two projects from Kinder Morgan aim to help that effort. The 2.1-Bcf/d Mississippi Crossing (MSX) and 1.3-Bcf/d South System Expansion 4 (SSE4) projects will move more Marcellus/Utica gas into Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. RBN Energy connects the dots. 
Last week, for the eighth week in a row, the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count dropped, down by one rig to its lowest level since November 2021. This is the first time we’ve seen a slide in the count for eight weeks (or more) since September 2023. The national rig count continues in free fall, although perhaps the rate of descent is slowing. The Marcellus/Utica count remained the same last week, at a combined 36 active rigs. The Pennsylvania Marcellus operated 18 rigs. The Ohio Utica operated 11 rigs. And West Virginia operated seven rigs. 
Last week, MDN told you that EQT’s vice president of midstream, Robert Wingo, was moving on to another job (see 
Energy Transfer (ET) is a major energy infrastructure company based in Dallas, Texas, owning and operating one of the largest and most diversified portfolios of energy assets in the United States. It is a publicly traded master limited partnership with a vast network of pipelines and associated infrastructure, transporting a variety of energy products (natural gas, NGLs, oil, refined products) across the country. In our region, ET built and operates the Rover Pipeline, Mariner East, Revolution, and various refined products (gasoline, oil) pipelines. Big company. Important company. However, it wasn’t always this large and significant. How did it get that way? 
We previously reported that following some intense conversations between President Trump and New York Governor Kathy Hochul, she caved and according to the White House agreed to allow two long-stalled pipeline projects—the Constitution and the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE)—to get built in NY in return for Trump allowing her to continue to sink $5 billion into an offshore wind project (see 
Cayuga Station, owned by Duke Energy, is a three-unit coal-fired power plant built between 1970 and 1993 in Vermillion County, Indiana. The existing plant produces as much as 1,040 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Duke recently filed a request with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) for permission to build two new gas-fired plants at the Cayuga site to replace the coal-fired units (see 
A month ago, NRG Energy announced a deal to acquire LS Power’s portfolio of natural-gas power plants in a deal valued at roughly $12 billion, including debt, that will expand NRG’s footprint in Texas and along the East Coast (see 
A situation that’s been playing out for nearly two years is just now becoming public. In late 2023, a welding inspector working on the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) said he had discovered three sections of the pipeline were corroded and violated construction standards and federal guidelines. He reported it to his superiors at MVP, who allegedly ignored his objections. So he filed a report with the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). The pipeline sections got replaced, and the inspector got fired. In April of this year, the inspector filed a lawsuit against MVP (and Equitrans Midstream, and EQT) for wrongful termination. 
Following President Trump’s quid pro quo deal with New York Governor Kathy Hochul in which Trump is allowing a $5 billion offshore wind project to proceed in return for Hochul allowing two Williams gas pipeline projects, Williams has restarted one of the two projects, the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) project (see 
During EQT Corporation’s third quarter 2023 update and conference call (held in October 2023), the company announced “two of the largest, long-term physical supply deals ever executed” for 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of EQT’s molecules. Those molecules will flow on the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) beginning in 2027 (see 
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), and its Regional Entities recently issued a report reviewing how the country’s Bulk-Power System performed well during successive cold weather events in January 2025. The report found that the system was a stellar performer, with no significant issues in either the natural gas or electric systems. The 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) was called out for its “crucial role” in helping to keep the lights on throughout the Atlantic Coast region during the coldest parts of winter. 
The MVP (Mountain Valley Pipeline) Southgate project won a major decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (DC Circuit), affirming a decision made by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to allow an extra three years to build the project. Southgate is an extension of MVP from its current termination point in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, into Rockingham County, North Carolina. Coincidentally (or not), a day before the DC Circuit’s decision clearing the way for the project, MVP filed a request with the NC Department of Environmental Quality for a permit to build the project in that state.