Energy Services

Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Schuylkill County | Transco | Williams

Judge Grants Atlantic Sunrise Pipe Access to Schuylkill Property
March 24, 2017March 24, 2017

Ryan Regec owns 78 acres in Schuylkill County, PA (eastern part of the state). He plans to subdivide the property into smaller properties and sell the building lots–but the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline is coming through a portion of the property, and Mr. Regec says that means he can’t subdivide and sell it the way he planned. Regec has, in the past, allowed surveyors from Atlantic Sunrise on his property–but recently has refused. Atlantic Sunrise (i.e. Williams) took him to court to force access to complete their surveys, and Williams just won. A judge for the U.S. Middle District Court in PA issued an order allowing Atlantic Sunrise access. A spokesman for the pipeline says the pipeline will only cut through a small portion of Mr. Regec’s 78 acres. Regec claims his subdivision plans will be destroyed. Who’s right?…
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Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | M&A | Williams

Court Says was OK for ETE to Scuttle $33B Williams Takeover Deal
March 24, 2017March 24, 2017

Last year an elaborate midstream drama unfolded before our very eyes. Energy Transfer Equity (ETE) pushed and prodded and poked and cajoled and insisted, and finally with the help of an inside corporate raider, forced Williams to agree to a buyout/merger (see Williams Accepts ETE’s “Indecent Proposal” – Price Went Down $10B). Then the bottom dropped out of the price of natural gas and drillers scaled back drilling and consequently midstream (i.e. pipeline) companies like ETE and Williams got pinched. And ETE got cold feet (see ETE Wants Out of Williams Merger/Takeover, Offering $2B Breakup Fee). Williams said “not so fast, you wanted us, you’ll be taking us” and consequently sued ETE to force the merger to happen (see Merger Turns Sour: Williams Sues ETE/CEO Kelcy Warren). However, in the end, the merger never happened (see Dead as a Doornail: ETE Terminates Merger with Williams). Since breaking the agreement, Williams and ETE have been in court battling over lots of things, including a $1.5 billion breakup fee. Earlier this week an appeals court ruled ETE was within its rights to break the deal. What does that mean about paying Williams a breakup fee?…
Read More “Court Says was OK for ETE to Scuttle $33B Williams Takeover Deal”
Crime | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

Eco-Terrorists Burn Holes in Dakota Access Pipeline in 2 States
March 24, 2017March 31, 2017

Dakota Access Pipeline “peaceful” protesters

Eco-terrorists are responsible for using a blowtorch to burn holes in two different above-ground valve sites for the newly completed Dakota Access Pipeline. One of the sites was in North Dakota. The other in Iowa. It was a criminal act of terrorism meant to cause an oil spill or worse. It is the kind of thing we have (unfortunately) come to expect from twisted, evil eco-jihadists in their screwed-up mission to rid the planet of fossil fuels. Here’s what we could find out about these terrorist acts…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Williams

Williams Launches PA Media Campaign to Promote Atlantic Sunrise
March 23, 2017March 23, 2017

Williams is in the years-long (and almost impossible) process of building the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project–a $3 billion, 198-mile pipeline running through 10 Pennsylvania counties to connect Marcellus Shale natural gas from PA with the Williams’ Transco pipeline in southern Lancaster County. On Feb. 3, 2017, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave its final approval for the project (see FERC Approves Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline! Cabot Grabs More Capacity). From FERC’s perspective, Atlantic Sunrise can start the bulldozers any time–except the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has not yet granted some necessary permits. As we reported earlier this month, Williams is keeping up the gentle pressure (see Williams Keeps Pressure on PA DEP to Issue Atlantic Sunrise Permits). That pressure continues. Williams has just launched an “expanded” media campaign, complete with on-air commercials, which aim to “educate the community about these benefits and the importance of designing, constructing and operating critical natural gas infrastructure projects in Pennsylvania.” The new media effort is also meant to ratchet up the pressure on the DEP another notch…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | PennEast Pipeline | Pipelines

NJ’s Lib Dem Senators Bash PennEast Pipe Over Arsenic “Concerns”
March 23, 2017March 23, 2017

New Jersey’s reliably lefty Democrat U.S. Senators, Cory Booker and Robert Menendez, played to their fringe, unhinged base of eco-nut supporters by sending a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission claiming the PennEast Pipeline project, due to run through a small portion of NJ, “may” cause problems with arsenic–as in releasing the toxic substance into drinking water supplies from digging trenches and erosion. It is a flat out, bogus, BS claim–and they know it. But they were put up to the letter-writing task by some of their Big Green donors, including ReThink Energy NJ and New Jersey Conservation Foundation. It’s nothing new that campaign contributions (i.e. bribes) buy you access. PennEast has responded that the issue has already been addressed in their application with FERC–there is a plan to monitor and protect against any potential disturbance of the ground that would cause arsenic levels to increase. That’s what responsible adults do. They respond in an adult-like, responsible manner. Unlike the other side…
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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide NY

FERC Green Lights Construction of Dominion Project in Upstate NY
March 22, 2017March 22, 2017

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. The existing Dominion pipeline runs through the Horseheads, Ithaca, Syracuse and Albany areas. In March 2015 MDN friend Andy Leahy wrote about the pitched battle antis waged against the project (see NY Antis Flood FERC in Fight Against Dominion’s New Market Project). The antis were unsuccessful. 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 corrupt 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). Barbara Lifton, an eco-left Democrat from Ithaca who serves in the New York Assembly, recently tried to stop the project from proceeding by sending letters to both FERC and the DEC, hoping she could (ab)use her position to pressure one or the other (or both) to delay the project, which is the antis’ first step in killing a project (see NY State Legislator Tries to Derail Dominion New Market Project). We’re delighted to report she failed. Last Friday FERC sent a letter to Dominion to let them know, now more than three years after filing, they can start the bulldozers and begin construction. In Communist NY! Who woulda thunk?!…
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Buckeye Brine | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Research | Statewide OH | Washington County (OH) | Wastewater

MDN Exclusive: 2016 Ohio Wastewater Disposal Market Report
March 22, 2017March 22, 2017

We are super excited to bring you an exclusive report that has just been released by MDN subscriber Andrew Kilgore. The report is titled “2016 Ohio Wastewater Disposal Market Report” (full copy below) and it details the wastewater injection well industry in Ohio. Andrew has spent most of his career working in the Appalachian Basin. He is an alumnus of BlueJack Energy (see Wastewater Co. BlueJack Energy Launches with $100M Investment), EnLink Midstream, and co-founder of UM Resources. Andrew authored the report and offered to let MDN be the first media outlet to release it. We thank him! The report finds that in 2016 the total amount of wastewater disposed of in Ohio was 29.4 million barrels–almost 2 million fewer barrels disposed of compared to 2015. The majority of the decline was from wastewater from out-of-state slowing down (i.e. from Pennsylvania and West Virginia). The report outlines a number of reasons for the decline in wastewater volume disposed in OH, with the primary reason being less drilling due to the low commodity price of natural gas. A few quick facts from the report: Washington County, OH saw the most volume of wastewater disposed. Buckeye Brine processed the most wastewater volume. Here’s the full report…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Mammoth Energy Services | Sand/Proppant

OFS Mammoth Buys Sand Co. to Ensure Steady Supply for Fracking
March 22, 2017March 22, 2017

Oilfield services company (OFS) Mammoth Energy Services, headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK, operates in both the Utica Shale and Permian Basin. Mammoth offers services like “completion and production services, natural sand proppant services, contract land and directional drilling services and remote accommodation services.” Mammoth is a baby company, formed in 2014, but growing rapidly. The company booked $243 million in revenue for the 12 months ended June 30, 2016 (see Mammoth Energy 3Q16: “Intense Fracs” in Utica Shale). OFS companies like Mammoth do a lot of fracking. Lately there has been talk and concern that there won’t be enough frack sand to meet all of the increasing demand (see Go Pound Sand, Please! Proppant Shortage on the Way?). Mammoth wants to reassure its customers that it will have plenty of sand for fracking–so it just went out and bought its own sand mine! Yesterday Mammoth announced it has cut a deal to buy Taylor Frac, which owns a 0.7 million ton per year sand mine and processing plant. In addition, Mammoth cut a deal to buy Stingray Energy Services and Stingray Cementing, which offer services in fresh water transfer, equipment rental, re-fueling and cementing, primarily in the Marcellus/Utica region. Here’s the lowdown on the baby Mammoth that’s growing up rapidly…
Read More “OFS Mammoth Buys Sand Co. to Ensure Steady Supply for Fracking”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | TC Energy/TransCanada

Why TransCanada’s Lowball Pipeline Price is Not a Panacea
March 21, 2017March 21, 2017

TransCanada, one of Canada’s leading midstream/pipeline companies, cooked up a deal last year to pipe natural gas from Canada’s West Coast to the East Coast in order to fend off cheap supplies of Marcellus/Utica gas that will flow into Canada when/if the NEXUS and Rover pipelines get built (see TransCanada Pipe Drops Price 42% to Compete with Marcellus/Utica). TransCanada dropped their pipeline price to lure drillers by (theoretically) making it less expensive to get gas from Western Canada, some 2,400 miles away, than from the Marcellus, just 400 miles away. In October, TransCanada launched an open season to lock up customers for the new, lower-priced option. The open season was a bust because TransCanada insists on a 10-year commitment (see TransCanada Plan to Lowball M-U Gas Using Canada Pipeline a Bust). TransCanada rejiggered the terms being offered and reopened the open season. This time it worked (see TransCanada Says Plan to Lowball M-U Gas Worked, Shippers Sign Up). Even though natural gas from western Canada will soon flow to Ontario to compete with Marcellus/Utica gas coming from the Rover Pipeline (and perhaps NEXUS, if FERC approves it), analysts are warning that TransCanada’s plan is not a panacea for Canadian producers. Why? Because that gas will have to compete with a flood of Marcellus/Utica gas, and that means the prices will drop like a rock. Although western producers will be locked in for at least five years by signing with TransCanada, analysts are predicting that LNG exports will lure many of them away to sell gas for higher prices to overseas markets. And when that happens (in the next 5-10 years), gas flowing along TransCanada’s mainline will once again slow down to a trickle…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide NY | Williams

Federal Judge Rejects Constitution Pipe Request to Bypass NY DEC
March 20, 2017March 21, 2017

A disappointing setback for the much-needed Constitution Pipeline–a $683 million, 124-mile pipeline due to run from Susquehanna County, PA to Schoharie County, NY carrying Marcellus gas. As you may recall, in April 2016, New York’s anti-drilling governor, Andrew Cuomo, decided he would cave to pressure from radical environmentalists and block the building of the federally-approved Constitution Pipeline (see NY Gov. Cuomo Refuses to Grant Permits for Constitution Pipeline). Cuomo’s toadies at the Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) decided not to grant (i.e. denied) the Constitution the permits it needs to cross creeks and swamps. That was finally enough for Williams and the other partners in the project, who promptly sued NY in federal, NOT state, court (see Williams Sues NY Over Constitution Pipe – DEC May Lose Authority). Judge Norman Mordue of the Northern District of New York ruled last week that since NY has not officially denied the water crossing permits–simply not yet acted on them–there is no injury to the project. Even though the pipeline is losing money every day it doesn’t get built due to NY’s inaction. We fail to see how not acting on the permits over the long-term is any different from denying those same permits. It is a distinction without a difference in our book. But that’s what the judge ruled, granting the DEC’s motion to dismiss the case. The thread of hope that remains for the project is another case in which Williams (the builder of the Constitution) filed in an appeals court. Williams is maintaining the second case will go in their favor and when it does, construction is not far behind…
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Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines

OH Couple Illegally Blocks Rover Pipeline Workers from Their Land
March 17, 2017March 17, 2017

A somewhat misguided couple who own land in Harrison County, OH and object to Rover putting a pipeline through their land have decided to break the law. Contractors working for Energy Transfer to clear trees and dig a trench to lay pipeline across their land have been working on their land, on an off, for the past three weeks. Sheila Bittinger and her husband Stanley say they’ve had enough and the couple parked several vehicles across the entrance to their property to prevent any more work on the pipeline. It sounds as if they want to get arrested and that they know this particular bit of “civil disobedience” will result in absolutely nothing. But they’re doing it all the same. If you watch the video (below) you get the impression these are honest, country folks who feel like they’ve gotten a raw deal. We wonder if these landowners have been manipulated by slick lawyers who see a big payday coming from a lawsuit against Rover Pipeline…
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Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lawrence County (OH) | Ohio | Pipelines

Leach XPress Pipeline Begins Drilling Under the Ohio River
March 17, 2017March 17, 2017

Leach XPress Map Showing BM-111 Loop – click for larger version

In August 2014, MDN told you that Columbia Pipeline Group decided to move forward with investing $1.75 billion dollars for two new projects: the Leach XPress and Rayne XPress pipeline projects (see Columbia Gas: $1.75B for 2 Projects to Send Marcellus Gas to Gulf). Leach Xpress will begin in Marshall County, West Virginia, cross Ohio and end up in Leach, Kentucky. In January 2017, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the two projects (see FERC Approves $1.8B Leach & Rayne XPress Pipeline Projects). Construction has since begun. Part of the Leach XPress project is a sub-project called the BM-111 Loop, three-mile segment of 36-inch diameter pipe, extending from Columbia’s existing Burlington, OH (Lawrence County) meter station. That segment will go under the Ohio River. Work on the BM-111 Loop, which will employ 140 people during construction, has just begun…
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Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Michigan | Pipelines | Statewide MI

Michigan Judge Rules Rover Pipeline Can Access Holdout Properties
March 17, 2017March 17, 2017

On Feb. 3, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave its final approval to Energy Transfer’s Rover Pipeline project–a $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 (see ET Rover Pipeline Gets Final Approval by FERC). When FERC approves a project like Rover, the project automatically gets the power to invoke eminent domain against landowners who refuse to sign easements to allow the pipeline. Rover has done that in several states, including Ohio and Michigan. Landowners who own 116 tracts of land in Michigan where Rover will traverse have refused to negotiate or allow Rover access to their land. Those days are over. A federal judge in Michigan has just ruled Rover can immediately seize land along the route of the pipeline and begin tree clearing and construction…
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Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH

Some Ohio Landowners Say Rover Violating FERC Tree Clearing Order
March 16, 2017March 16, 2017

A group of approximately 250 Ohio landowners, represented by an Ohio eminent domain law firm, is doing its best to stop Energy Transfer’s Rover Pipeline project dead in its tracks. Rover is playing beat the clock to finish tree clearing following a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) final approval of the project on Feb. 3 (see ET Rover Pipeline Gets Final Approval by FERC). In order to comply with the batty regulation to have trees cleared no later March 31 (due to roosting bats that are protected), Rover moved immediately to begin the tree clearing process. Most Ohio landowners have granted easements and permission to Rover to clear trees. But there are those that have not–either because they want more money, or because they’re anti-fossil fuelers. Regardless, Rover has the right to do it and is using eminent domain procedures to do it. The group of 250 trying to stop Rover has taken two actions: (1) filed a complain with FERC claiming Rover is violating the terms of FERC’s order by not giving landowners advanced notice before clearing trees, and (2) filed a lawsuit in Ohio federal court asking for a restraining order. Will it work?…
Read More “Some Ohio Landowners Say Rover Violating FERC Tree Clearing Order”
Empire Pipeline | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Fights Back Against NFG’s Request to Bypass DEC Pipe Approval
March 16, 2017March 16, 2017

On Feb. 3, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved a long-delayed project–National Fuel Gas Company’s (NFG) Northern Access 2016 pipeline project (see NFG’s Northern Access Pipe in NY/PA Gets FERC Approval). The $455 million project includes building 97 miles of new pipeline along a power line corridor from northwestern Pennsylvania up to Erie County, NY. The project also calls for 3 miles of new pipeline further up, in Niagara County, along with a new compressor station in the Town of Pendleton. Although FERC has now given permission to build it, the State of New York, specifically the state’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), must issue stream crossing permits. We’ve seen this movie before. The corrupt DEC fiddle faddles around in an effort to stall and delay. NFG is in no mood to screw around with the Cuomo DEC, so they filed a motion asking FERC for a “reconsideration and clarification” on the role of the DEC in reviewing the project (see Gutsy: NFG Asks FERC to Cut NY DEC Out of Pipeline Approval). Specifically, NFG wants FERC to rule that the DEC has NO role in reviewing the Northern Access 2016 project. The corrupt DEC doesn’t like being challenged and last week filed its own motion with FERC claiming NFG is out of line. The peeing match has begun…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation

SC Antis File FERC Challenge to Stop Marcellus Pipe to Charleston
March 16, 2017March 16, 2017

Transco to Charleston Project – click for larger version

In March 2016, Dominion filed an official application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a 55-mile pipeline project called the Transco to Charleston Project (see Dominion Files Application to Move Marcellus Gas to Charleston, SC). As the name implies, it will be a short pipeline to connect the Transco pipeline, which is in the process of reversing flows to bring Marcellus and Utica Shale gas south. This new pipeline will grab Transco’s Marcellus/Utica gas and send it to the Charleston, SC area. The projected in-service date is November of this year. However, this project, like every square inch of every pipeline project in the Eastern U.S., faces opposition from nutty anti-drilling radicals who vow to try and stop it even if it gets FERC approval (see SC Antis Fuss Over Pipeline to Carry Marcellus Gas to Charleston). In February, just prior to Commissioner Norman Bay resigning and leaving FERC without a quorum, the three FERC Commissioners voted to grant Dominion the certificate to build the Transco to Charleston pipeline (see FERC Approves SC Pipeline to Flow Marcellus Gas to Charleston). So the nutters have flown into action by filing a request for a rehearing of the Commission’s decision, and filing a motion to stop any construction in the meantime…
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