Sabal Trail Pipeline Begins Service Connecting M-U Gas to Florida
In April MDN provided an update on the Sabal Train Transmission pipeline project (see Marcellus/Utica Gas Soon Heading to Florida Penninsula via Sabal Trail). Spectra Energy (and partners NextEra Energy and Duke Energy) are building Sabal Trail, a $3.2 billion, 515-mile interstate natural gas pipeline in Florida, Georgia and Alabama to deliver Marcellus gas to the southeast. The project has been underway for the past three+ years. Sabal Trail will connect to Williams’ Hillabee Expansion Project, which is a new pipeline spur built off the huge Transco pipeline system (see Williams Building Alabama Pipeline with Marcellus Connection). Williams is reversing a portion of the Transco to bring Marcellus gas south, much of it to feed natgas-fired electric plants. The fantastic news is that last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authorized a partial startup of the Sabal Trail project and the Hillabee Expansion that will feed it…
Read More “Sabal Trail Pipeline Begins Service Connecting M-U Gas to Florida”
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 
Just a quick reminder that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection is conducting four public hearings, beginning today and running through Wednesday, for the Williams Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project. If there is any way you can make it to one of the hearings to show your support for the project, do it! Below is the DEP announcement sharing the locations for the hearings. Today are two hearings, both from 6-9p, one in Tunkhannock and the other in Lancaster. Tomorrow the hearing is in Bloomsburg, and Wednesday in Annville. Come out to support this critical pipeline project…
In January 2016, Kinder Morgan (KM) committed to building the UTOPIA (Utica To Ontario Pipeline Access) pipeline, a 12-inch ethane pipeline that will run ~240 miles across the state of Ohio where it will connect with another pipeline and (eventually) flow ethane all the way to a cracker plant in Canada (see 
NEXUS is a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate natural gas pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. Its purpose is to move Utica and Marcellus Shale gas from an over-saturated market in the northeast to markets in the Midwest and Canada. It is a joint venture between DTE Energy and Spectra Energy. Last December, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a positive final Environmental Impact Statement for the project (see 
MDN recently told you about a proposed “virtual pipeline” (i.e. 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 
PennEast Pipeline has just released a list of 11 non-profit organizations receiving grants of “up to” $5,000 from the pipeline company. It’s not the first time (
The International (non-U.S.) Baker Hughes rig count for May 2017 was 957, up 1 from the 956 counted in May 2017, and up 2 from the 955 counted in May 2016. However, the U.S. rig count for May 2017 was 893, up 40 from the 853 counted in May 2017, and up 485 from the 408 counted in May 2016. Like last month, the U.S. rig count continues to be more than double year-ago levels. Canada’s rig count continued further into the abyss in May, falling another 23 after falling 145 last month–down to 85. However, Canada’s May rig count was 43 higher than May 2016. So perhaps it’s not yet an apocalypse for our Canadian cousins. What about rig counts in the Marcellus/Utica? Although 1 net rig changed location–from WV to OH, overall the combined PA/OH/WV rig count remained the same as last month: 68 active rigs drilling…
Canadian-based TransCanada, famously known for wanting to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf Coast, didn’t want to be left out of the most important midstream story of the century (the Marcellus/Utica), so they bought Columbia Pipeline Group–closing on the sale in July 2016 (see 
As MDN previously reported, 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 
As we do every month (and have for two years), MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for rig count health in the Marcellus/Utica. In April the Patterson rig count rocketed to 115, up an amazing 27 rigs in a single month–the biggest jump we’ve seen (see 
For some reason we’ve always loved stories about how shale energy has revitalized the short line railroad industry. Maybe it’s from some deep-seated psychological connection of playing Monopoly as a child and loving to own the railroads on the board–including the Short Line. Who knows? We’ve just stumbled across another such shale energy story connected to a short line railroad. This one involves the mighty Rover Pipeline, now under active construction across Ohio and in Michigan. When Energy Transfer, the company building the $3.7 billion, 711-mile Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline began to look at logistics and where they would store all of the pipeline and other materials needed to construction the mammoth project, they happened across a rail yard and transloading facility located in Massillon (Stark County), OH. Massillon Logistics, founded in 2004 by Steve and Dave DiPietro, had launched Republic Short Line Railroad (RSL), along with four other subsidiaries, to operate at a former steel mill site (465 acres) now called the Massillon Energy & Technology Park. RSL and the expansive park were just what Energy Transfer needed for Rover. The pipeline project has provided RSL with a boatload (or rather, rail yard) of business and money to grow… 
Yesterday MDN provided an update about the fast-approaching merger/buyout of Baker Hughes by GE Oil & Gas (see 
Several radical environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, Michigan Residents Against the ET Rover Pipeline, and the Ohio-based nutters at FreshWater Accountability Project filed an official request with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to pull the Corps’ issuance of a “blanket” approval for the Rover Pipeline to use underground horizontal directional drilling (HDD) and instead require Rover to get a permit for each of the 45 bodies of water they intend to drill under with the technique. Which would, of course, bring the project to a halt–the intended outcome by the radicals. The groups are attempting to capitalize on several leaks experienced by Rover using HDD, including a 2 million gallon drilling mud spill in April that continues to generate headlines today (see 
As we have noticed with many upstream (drilling) and midstream (pipeline) companies over the years, these companies often float new IOUs (or “notes”) to pay off old IOUs. Midstream giant Williams is one of the latest to do so. Last Wednesday, May 31, Williams announced they would float $1.45 billion in new notes, due payable in 2027. The reason? To pay off notes due in 2023. Yesterday Williams said they got the new notes all sold. The up side to swapping debt, in this case, is that the new notes pay an interest rate of 3.75%, whereas the notes they are paying off (due in 2023) have an interest rate of 4.875%. So Williams shaved more than a full point off the interest they are paying for their IOUs–a technique that will save the company big bucks…