Energy Services

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    Virginia Marcellus Power Plant Now Online, Boosts Local NatGas Price

    Marcellus Shale gas is now powering a Panda Power Funds electric generation plant supplying electricity for 778,000 homes in the Washington, DC metro area. Panda announced that its 778-megawatt “Stonewall” generating station in Loudoun County, Virginia is now online producing electricity for Northern Virginia/District of Columbia customers. MDN first had its eye on this project in November 2014 when we brought you the news that South Jersey Gas had won the contract to provide Marcellus Shale gas to the plant when built (see NJ Utility to Provide Marcellus Gas to Virginia Power Plant). South Jersey Gas is using the Dominion Transmission pipeline to get the gas there. Dominion upgraded their system last year in order to flow more gas to the project (see FERC OKs 6 Dominion Compressor Station Upgrades in PA, MD, VA). Incredibly, the Panda Stonewall project is estimated to contribute a mind-blowing $7.1 billion to the Virginia economy during its recent construction and the first 10 years of operation. No wonder communities love these natgas-fired electric plant projects! Since Stonewall going online, the spot price of natural gas traded at the nearby Dominion South trading hub has gone up 50% from prices of gas traded there a year earlier…
    Read More “Virginia Marcellus Power Plant Now Online, Boosts Local NatGas Price”

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    More Clarity on Status of Mountaineer NGL Storage Facility in OH

    In May, MDN conveyed the news that it appears Mountaineer NGL Storage, which wants to build a new underground NGL storage facility in Monroe County, Ohio, near Clarington, along the Ohio River (see New Company Announces Open Season for NGL Storage in Ohio Utica), had, according to the story we read, begun construction (see Mountaineer NGL Storage Facility in OH Under Construction). Based on a later article, we stated that our older story was in error (see Mountaineer NGL Storage Facility in OH Not (Yet) Under Construction). In October 2016, Mountaineer drilled and completed a test well in the salt formation. But in April of this year, Mountaineer said construction had not yet begun due to problems with red tape (see Mountaineer NGL Storage in Monroe County, OH Caught in Red Tape). An interview with a company official said nobody has (as yet) signed on the dotted line to use the facility, and that is the holdup now. Which has been, more or less, confirmed at the recent Appalachian Storage Hub conference, held last week in Canonsburg, PA. After reading an account of Mountaineer’s comments at the event, we now believe we have a fuller, even more accurate picture. The situation is this: Yes, they need customers to sign up to use the facility (minimum of 1 million barrels of storage would get it going). In addition, Mountaineer still needs to build a 3.25 million barrel brine pond, used to pump out the stored NGLs. Mountaineer is still waiting for a clearance from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources to build the pond, likely to take a few more months. So they need customers, and they need more regulatory approvals…
    Read More “More Clarity on Status of Mountaineer NGL Storage Facility in OH”

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    Small Group of Antis Vent re Duke Energy Pipeline in Cincinnati

    Duke Energy needs to replace an aging pipeline, built in the 1950s, near Cincinnati, OH–or some people in Cincy will have to go without natural gas. Last Thursday the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) held the first of two public hearings, to grant anti-pipeliners the opportunity to vent (see Hearings Scheduled for Proposed Duke Pipeline in Cincinnati). Duke has proposed a 13-mile, 20-inch pipeline along two potential routes. Both routes are opposed by antis, including a group calling themselves NOPE–Neighbors Opposing Pipeline Extension. We call them DOPEs–Dummies Opposing Pipeline Extensions. Will the DOPEs volunteer to shut off the natural gas to their homes and businesses if the pipeline doesn’t get built? Not on your life! Last week’s meeting didn’t disappoint. The DOPEs turned out and predicted Armageddon would occur if the pipeline gets built. However, something pretty interesting happened. Only ~100 people turned out to speak against the pipeline. The population of Cincinnati is around 300,000 people. So something like 3/100ths of a percent of the people turned up for the meeting. MDN editor Jim Willis has attended similar pipeline meetings in rural towns of 1,000 people where the auditorium was filled with 250-300 people! Some 100 people turning up to talk down a pipeline in Cincinnati says to us the fight is already over. There IS NO opposition to the pipeline. Not any real, meaningful opposition that will stop it, regardless of what anti publications like the Enquirer say. And then there was the ultimate salt in the DOPE’s wounds: not a single member of the OPSB turned up for their own hearing! They sent a court reporter to record/transcribe what the speakers said. Why should OPSB board members give up an evening to listen to nutters rant and rave?…
    Read More “Small Group of Antis Vent re Duke Energy Pipeline in Cincinnati”

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    Analyst: “Nearly Impossible” for Rover to Get Done on Schedule

    Rover Pipeline, Energy Transfer’s $3.7 billion, 711-mile Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline that will run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada, will almost certainly not go online in July as originally planned–at least according to an article on The Street evaluating the project and its builder, Energy Transfer. At the heart of the delay is a series of spills that have occurred while drilling underground, horizontally, under rivers and creeks (and other structures) in which drilling mud has spilled. The largest such spill, to date, happened on April 13 when around 2 million gallons of drilling mud spilled close to the Tuscarawas River (see Rover Pipeline Accident Spills ~2M Gal. Drilling Mud in OH Swamp). That spill, plus the others, set off a chain reaction and ongoing fight with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA), who lobbied the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to investigate. Which is now happening (see OH EPA Says Diesel Fuel Found in Rover 2M Gal Drilling Mud Spill). The FERC investigation has stalled forward progress in some (not all) areas. According to an analyst from Genscape quoted in the article, Energy Transfer “seems to have an approach where they stick to the minimum requirements instead of exceeding them” when it comes to drilling and laying pipelines. Energy Transfer strongly disagrees that statement. Regardless, the company’s stock has taken a hit and the article (below) raises concerns about the future of the company’s stock for shareholders…
    Read More “Analyst: “Nearly Impossible” for Rover to Get Done on Schedule”

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    Sunoco Seeks Injunction Against Radicalized ME2 Pipe Protesters

    You may recall our story about the daughter of a Huntingdon County, PA landowner, radicalized by Big Green groups (as evidenced by her association with well known protesters previously arrested), who took to a tree on her mom’s property in order to illegally stop crews working on tree clearing for the Mariner East 2 pipeline (see PA Anti Literally Goes Up a Tree to Stop Mariner East 2 Pipeline). It ultimately didn’t matter, because Sunoco came back and cut down the few trees they need to cut anyway (see Sunoco Tricks Radicalized Protester – Returns and Cuts More Trees). In December, the up-a-tree girl and her mom (Elise and Ellen Gerhart), with lawyers and backing by Big Green money, launched a final “hail Mary” pass by appealing a case to the PA Commonwealth Court, asking the court to stop the ME2 project by claiming it doesn’t have the right to use eminent domain (see Desperate Antis Try One Last Legal Maneuver to Stop Mariner East 2). Like so many other “hail Mary” desperation passes, this one never found the arms of a receiver. In May, the court turned down the appeal (see Huntingdon Family Lawsuit Against ME2 Pipeline Fails, Game Over). With nothing left to do but break the law in an attempt to block the pipeline from their property, that’s just what the Gerharts have pledged to do. That is, invite in outside help (i.e. paid protesters) to block the path, so Sunoco Logistics Partners can’t build the pipeline across their property. Sunoco has asked a Huntingdon County judge to order the family and the outsiders to step aside, or be thrown in jail…
    Read More “Sunoco Seeks Injunction Against Radicalized ME2 Pipe Protesters”

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    Siemens to Build “First of Its Kind” Natgas Turbine for Duke NC Plant

    Siemens, the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe with its headquarters in Germany, sought out and has cut a deal with Duke Energy to build a brand new, “first of its kind” advanced natural gas-combustion turbine for Duke Energy’s proposed 400-megawatt expansion at its Lincoln County Combustion Turbine Station near Charlotte. Siemens will build a single turbine able to generate 400 megawatts essentially on demand, as needed, for those times when extra electricity is needed (called “peaking” for peak demand). The project will be built in three phases beginning in 2018, with lots of testing, and won’t be ready until 2024. In return for allowing Siemens to build this new tech and test it out, Duke is getting a sweetheart deal on the price, although the price has not been publicly disclosed. So what does this have to do with the Marcellus/Utica? Long before 2024 there will be, at a minimum, Marcellus/Utica gas flowing to that region via the forthcoming Atlantic Coast Pipeline project. And by that time, seven long years from now, who knows? We expect there may be more pipelines built and in place not even conceived or announced–yet. This will be one more (added to the already 130 announced) power generation projects coming in the PJM region (see today’s companion story, Important New Report on Pipelines & Powergen in Marcellus/Utica). Here’s the exciting news about a brand new technology coming along to leverage abundant, clean-burning natural gas in the Marcellus/Utica and beyond…
    Read More “Siemens to Build “First of Its Kind” Natgas Turbine for Duke NC Plant”

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    Coming GE-Baker Hughes Merger – World’s First “Full-Stream” Co.

    You’ve heard of upstream, which that portion of the industry that finds and drills for natural gas and oil. You’ve heard of midstream, the pipelines and processing plants portion of the industry. And you’ve heard of downstream, which includes petrochemical plants, industrial users, and homeowners who use the stuff found and transported. But have you ever heard of “full-stream?” That would be a company that is involved, in a major way, in all three major areas of the energy business. Companies like Exxon Mobil and Shell come close, but they don’t really fit that description. They drill for oil and gas (upstream), and they have some pipelines (minimal). They do have a big presence in the downstream, with cracker plants and other petrochemical facilities. However, the first truly full-stream company is about to be born, from the merger between GE Oil & Gas and Baker Hughes. It will be a “molecule to megawatt” company. MDN friend Steven Heins, an energy and regulatory consultant and former vice president of communication for Orion Energy Systems, shares his observations about the impending merger and what it means…
    Read More “Coming GE-Baker Hughes Merger – World’s First “Full-Stream” Co.”

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    Dominion New Market Project Still on Track in NY, Antis Fume

    In June 2014, MDN told you about the Dominion New Market Project–a project that will build two new compressor plants and upgrade one other compressor station in upstate New York–to help flow more abundant, cheap and clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas from Pennsylvania (and beyond) into the northeast (see Dominion Asks FERC for New Compressors in Upstate NY, WV). The project is projected to cost $159 million and provide 112,000 dekatherms per day (Dth/d) of extra natural gas capacity along ~200 miles of existing Dominion pipeline across upstate New York–no new pipeline is being laid. The existing Dominion pipeline runs through the Horseheads, Ithaca, Syracuse and Albany areas. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved Dominion’s New Market Project in October 2015 (see FERC Approves Expansion of Dominion Pipeline in Upstate NY). And then a real miracle happened. The Cuomo-corrupted New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) approved the New Market compressor stations on Dec. 23, 2016 (see Miracle! NY DEC Approves Dominion’s New Compressor Stations). Needless to say, anti-fossil fuel freaks are freaked out that the project is now a reality. The lone compressor station that will get an upgrade (not being built from scratch) is located near Ithaca, NY, home of some of the nuttiest of the nutjobs. The antis who run the Town of Dryden (near Ithaca, where the compressor station is located) passed a “public utility moratorium” last summer (which expires this summer) in an attempt to stop the upgrade at the Dominion compressor station. However, Dominion has outsmarted the antis and continues to work on the upgrade, which is making the antis apoplectic, much to our delight…
    Read More “Dominion New Market Project Still on Track in NY, Antis Fume”

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    Cincinnati Leaders Smear Duke Energy Ahead of Pipeline Meeting

    Duke Energy needs to replace an aging pipeline, built in the 1950s, near Cincinnati, OH–or some people in Cincy will have to go without natural gas (see Hearings Scheduled for Proposed Duke Pipeline in Cincinnati). Duke has proposed a 13-mile, 20-inch pipeline along two potential routes. Both routes are opposed by antis, including a group calling themselves NOPE–Neighbors Opposing Pipeline Extension. We call them DOPEs–Dummies Opposing Pipeline Extensions. Will the DOPErs volunteer to shut off the natural gas to their homes and businesses if the pipeline doesn’t get built? Not on your life! Two public hearings have now been scheduled, one for tomorrow (June 15), and the other July 12. Just ahead of tomorrow’s meeting, two Democrat politicians–one from the city, the other from the county–are smearing Duke Energy, accusing the company of using “intimidation tactics” to “push through” the pipeline. Which is, of course, nonsense. What kind of intimidation? Did Duke hire thugs with baseball bats to roam the streets? No. Duke had the audacity to send surveyors out to chart the path of the proposed pipeline. For our hyperventilating politicians (displaying mock outrage), such activity is “alarming” and Duke should immediately “cease and desist”…
    Read More “Cincinnati Leaders Smear Duke Energy Ahead of Pipeline Meeting”

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    Atlantic Sunrise Hearing in Bloomsburg Repeat of Previous Hearings

    As we reported yesterday, the first two (of four) public hearings were held on Monday by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to elicit comments on the proposed $3 billion, 198-mile Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline, an expansion of Williams’ Transco Pipeline system (see Atlantic Sunrise Supporters Far Outnumber Antis at PA DEP Hearings). Supporters of the pipeline far outnumbered opponents at both hearings, which has left antis spitting and sputtering: “How did we get outmaneuvered?” The third hearing was held last night, in Bloomsburg, PA (Columbia County). How did it go there? Pretty much a repeat of the meetings on Monday night: supporters far outnumbered opponents of the pipeline. Like the other meetings, a somewhat odd alliance between the local Chamber of Commerce and labor unions provided many of the supporters who attended–to talk about the jobs and enormous positive economic impact of the project…
    Read More “Atlantic Sunrise Hearing in Bloomsburg Repeat of Previous Hearings”

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    XcL Midstream Building New Dry & Wet Gas Gathering Pipes in WV

    It doesn’t happen often, but every now and again we read about driller or (in this case) pipeline company operating in the Marcellus/Utica we had never heard of before. Such is the case today. A new (to us) midstream company, XcL Midstream, has formed and is already building a dry gas gathering pipeline system in West Virginia, with plans to build a wet gas gathering system in WV too. According to its website, XcL “operates in the premier region of the Appalachia basin in Marshall and Wetzel Counties, West Virginia. XcL Midstream’s Appalachia Connector Pipeline is strategically located at the intersection of every major long-haul interstate pipeline system in Southwest Appalachia and provides shippers with market price optionality.” XcL plans to gather and process dry gas, wet gas (i.e. natural gas liquids), and transport water for its customers. XcL has its headquarters in Canonsburg, PA, near Pittsburgh. The reason that the company popped up on our radar is because Platts ran an article announcing that XcL has signed a customer–THQ Appalachia I, an affiliate of Tug Hill–to use 600 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d) on the dry gas pipeline, 200 Mmcf/d on the wet gas pipeline system, and to use a forthcoming water pipeline to boot. Here’s the thing: both XcL and THQ/Tug Hill are backed by private equity company Quantum Energy Partners. So apparently this is one of Quantum’s portfolio companies doing business with another of Quantum’s portfolio companies. In essence, one cousin helping out the other cousin. Perhaps we can call them kissin’ cousins?…
    Read More “XcL Midstream Building New Dry & Wet Gas Gathering Pipes in WV”

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    Atlantic Sunrise Supporters Far Outnumber Antis at PA DEP Hearings

    Yesterday saw the first two (of four) public hearings being hosted this week by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to elicit comments on the proposed $3 billion, 198-mile Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline, an expansion of Williams’ Transco Pipeline system. One of yesterday’s meetings was held in Lancaster (Lancaster County), and the other in Tunkhannock (Wyoming County). The striking thing about both meetings is that they were not the usual circus freak shows by anti-fossil fuelers we’ve come to expect. Indeed, in both venues, an overwhelming majority of those speaking were there to speak IN FAVOR of the projects. Oh, there were detractors, to be sure. Nonsensical statements made by people like Malinda Clatterbuck, one of the locals in Lancaster who is attempting to turn Lancaster into another North Dakota fiasco. Clatterbuck said “angst over the pipeline has caused premature births, divorces and heart attacks” among people she knows. Complete rubbish. Anyone can say (or do) anything at these hearings. Mark Clatterbuck (Malinda’s husband) also spoke. Mark was a protester in North Dakota against the Dakota Access Pipeline. He warned (threatened?) DEP representatives of a coming “community uprising” against the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline. Even though there was some opposition like the clattering Clatterbucks at last night’s hearings, the big news is that their opposition was drowned out by supporters of the pipeline project. And that’s good news for all Pennsylvanians…
    Read More “Atlantic Sunrise Supporters Far Outnumber Antis at PA DEP Hearings”

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    NY School Saddles Taxpayers w/Legal Fees to Oppose Virtual Pipe

    We just knew getting a “virtual pipeline” facility built in ultra-liberal Broome County, NY was proceeding a little too easy. MDN recently told you about a proposed virtual pipeline (i.e. natgas trucking system) coming to MDN’s neighborhood. NG Advantage wants to build a new compressor station and tap into the Millennium Pipeline where it crosses the Chenango River near Port Dickinson, a suburb of Binghamton, in Broome County (see NG Advantage Virtual Pipeline May be Coming to MDN’s Backyard). NG already has three businesses lined up to buy CNG (compressed natural gas) from the project. So-called virtual pipelines compress natural gas and load it onto tanker trucks, and then distribute that gas to businesses that are not fortunate enough to be located near a natgas pipeline. It’s a cool concept that bypasses anti-drilling objections to pipelines. However, virtual pipelines have one negative side-effect for local residents: LOTS of truck traffic. The Town of Fenton Planning Board recently approved the project and although we thought it wasn’t quite yet a done deal, apparently it is a done deal, as a small group of antis learned earlier this week at a Town of Fenton meeting (see NG Advantage Virtual Pipe “Done Deal” in Broome County, Antis Stymied). However, that may not be the end of it. Antis (in New York as elsewhere) don’t fade away without a LOT of loud-mouthed opposition, and a LOT of legal action. Antis are now pegging their hopes to defeat this fossil fuel intruder on the actions of a local school district. The Chenango Valley School District operates the Port Dickinson Elementary school close to (half mile? quarter mile?) the proposed compressor station for the virtual pipeline project. The CV school board voted last night 8-0 to hire a law firm to fight the project, with no cap on how much in legal fees local taxpayers will have to pay for this folly. The clock is now ticking. It’s quite likely the project will get built before it ever sees its first court hearing–and antis know it…
    Read More “NY School Saddles Taxpayers w/Legal Fees to Oppose Virtual Pipe”

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    Trump DOJ Blesses GE Takeover of Baker Hughes, Merging Soon

    During the Obama reign of terror, the world’s #2 largest oilfield services company, Halliburton, tried to buy the world’s #3 largest oilfield services company, Baker Hughes. The Obama Dept. of Justice (DOJ) killed that deal (see Obama DOJ Kills Halliburton/Baker Hughes Merger, Deal “Terminated”). It was a costly mistake for Halliburton–they had to pay Baker Hughes a $3.5 billion breakup fee. Baker Hughes was on a mission to sell itself to someone, and eventually found a new suitor last October: GE Oil & Gas (see Breaking: Who Needs Halliburton? Baker Hughes Merging with GE O&G). Since then the two have worked hard to ensure there will not be a repeat of the Halliburton disaster. Earlier this month we told you that Europe has blessed the deal (see Europe Approves GE Takeover of Baker Hughes, Co Gets a New Name). Now the Trump DOJ has blessed the deal too. GE had to agree to sell its Water & Process Technologies business (called GE Water). Small price to pay. The two maintain that the merger will take place “mid-year”. Since it’s already mid-year, we expect that translates to July or August…
    Read More “Trump DOJ Blesses GE Takeover of Baker Hughes, Merging Soon”

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    Halliburton Hires New CFO After Old CFO Left to Run Weatherford

    In March, Mark McCollum, who had been Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Halliburton, the world’s second largest oilfield services company, left to become the CEO of Weatherford, the world’s fourth largest oilfield services company (see Halliburton CFO Leaves to Become Weatherford CEO). Not long after McCollum took the helm of Weatherford, the world’s largest oilfield services company, Schlumberger, gave Weatherford a helping hand (see Schlumberger Throws Weatherford a Lifeline, Challenges Halliburton). The chain reaction (and drama) continues to unfold. Halliburton announced yesterday they’ve lured away the CFO from smaller competitor Parker Drilling Company. And now Parker is looking for a new CFO…
    Read More “Halliburton Hires New CFO After Old CFO Left to Run Weatherford”

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    NEPA Landowners Fight to Sue Chesapeake’s Partners

    We’re going to take a stab at this, and we are not confident we will get it 100% right. With that as a warning, we recently reported that a case brought by landowners in northeastern PA against Chesapeake Energy over unwarranted royalty deductions suffered a bit of a setback (see Chesapeake Scores Court Victory to Prevent PA Royalty Class Action). Essentially, the landowners (in this case Scout Energy) argued that since the leases signed say royalty disputes must go to arbitration, we want mass arbitration. A class action, in other words. In May, U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann of the Middle District of Pennsylvania (overseeing the case) issued an opinion that said Chesapeake is right in demanding each case get arbitrated individually–not as part of a class action. The landowners in four cases (all of which seem to be joined, or at least moving along together) filed briefs last week to make a new argument. And here’s where we are not 100% sure, but we think the argument is this: OK, we have to go to arbitration and now it has to be individually. However, there are other defendants named in the case (Anadarko, Williams, Statoil, Mitsui E&P). Since the lease language says the lease is between the landowner and the driller (i.e. Chesapeake), that means the other defendants are NOT covered by the arbitration clause and we (the landowners) can still sue them as a class action. Why? Because (allegedly) those companies colluded together with Chesapeake to “reduce, restrain or eliminate competition for gas and mineral rights, operations rights and gathering serves in multiple counties in Northern Pennsylvania.” Oy vey! It keeps getting more complicated as the days go by…
    Read More “NEPA Landowners Fight to Sue Chesapeake’s Partners”