TransCanada Revives Plan to Lowball M-U Gas Using Canada Pipeline
You may recall that 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 (see TransCanada Launches Open Season to Lowball Marcellus/Utica Gas). The open season was a flop because TransCanada insists on a 10-year commitment (see TransCanada Plan to Lowball M-U Gas Using Canada Pipeline a Bust). We thought that was the end of it, but it wasn’t. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the Rover pipeline earlier this month (see ET Rover Pipeline Gets Final Approval by FERC). That lit a fire under TransCanada because they perceive Rover as a direct, competitive, threat. So TransCanada has revived their plan to make it cheaper to pipe gas from western Canada to eastern Canada. Last time the deal was a 10-year term with a long-term tolling rate between C$0.75/GJ to C$0.82/GJ. Now the deal is a 10-year term at a simplified single rate of C$0.77/GJ. Huh? Looks almost like the same deal all over again–same 10-year term, about the same price. The difference appears to be that TransCanada has dropped a minimum amount to be shipped, hoping they can attract a bunch of small fry and create enough volume that way…
Read More “TransCanada Revives Plan to Lowball M-U Gas Using Canada Pipeline”
There’s always a few holdouts, no matter how hard you try to be reasonable. We’re talking about landowners who refuse to negotiate in good faith with pipeline companies. Earlier this month amidst a flurry of activity, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) handed Williams a final final final approval for its 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 (see 
Earlier this week Superior Energy, a Houston, TX-based oilfield services company specializing in completions and fracking with operations in the Pennsylvania Marcellus, issued its 2016 update. In addition, yesterday Superior’s muckety-mucks hopped on a conference call with analysts to discuss 2016 (and fourth quarter) results. Of particular note and interest to MDN is that Superior said in the later half of 2016 they transitioned away from fracking wells in Pennsylvania, moving the equipment and expanding their fracking operations in the Permian Shale instead. It’s possible Superior still has, and will continue to maintain, some operations in the Marcellus (although they shut down a facility in PA). But the new operating strategy for Superior is, judging by both the update and the conference call, quite clear: the Marcellus is out and the Permian is in…
We’ve known for the past couple of years that Sunoco Logistics Partners, owner and builder of the Mariner pipeline projects, wanted to build not one, but two Mariner East 2 pipelines–ME2 and ME2X. We wrote about their hope to build two pipelines back in June 2015 (see 
In addition to the great news that Sunoco Logistics Partners is building not one but two pipelines as part of the Mariner East 2 project (see today’s companion story, Sunoco LP Building 2 Pipelines for Mariner East 2 Project), we don’t want to overlook the other good work being done by Sunoco. The big news about two ME2 pipelines came as part of a Sunoco LP’s fourth quarter and full year 2016 update. The company reports making a $705 million profit in 2016, nearly doubling from the $393 million they made in 2015. Life is good in the midstream. They also report establishing a $1 billion line of credit in December, to help with cash flow during this year’s construction of ME2 and other projects. Below is the 4Q16 & full year 2016 update, along with the latest PowerPoint slide deck…
About 150 individuals masquerading as “organizations” have sent a letter to the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) requesting the DEC add an extra couple of months to a comment period for National Fuel Gas Company’s Northern Access 2016 pipeline project. A few weeks ago the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the long-delayed project (see 
Pop the cork on the champagne bottle! Sunoco Logistics Partners has begun construction of the Mariner East 2–a $2.5 billion, 306-mile natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline that will run from eastern Ohio through the state of Pennsylvania to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia. Last week the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) gave its final approval for the project (see 
Two weeks ago MDN ran a story about the fact that time has run out on recalcitrant landowners in Ohio who have refused to negotiate with Rover Pipeline–and are now being sued using eminent domain (see 
We appear to be in the final death throes of radical environmental efforts to block the construction of Mariner East 2–a $2.5 billion, 306-mile natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline that will run from eastern Ohio through the state of Pennsylvania to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia. Last week the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) gave its final approval for the project (see 
As we reported last week, a small group of anti-fossil fuelers were planning on grabbing their sleeping bags and heading to Amish country for a sleepover at the Magic Tree House (see 
On Friday midstream (pipeline) company Spectra Energy issued its fourth quarter and full year 2016 update. At the end of update, Spectra provides details on projects it will complete in 2017, those in development to be completed in 2018, and the final category of projects “in development.” It is that last one that caught our eye, because there is one project listed: Access Northeast, the pipeline project Spectra wants to build to bring more Marcellus/Utica shale gas to New England. Our quick take of what Spectra said: When the New England states get their heads out of their…lobster brisket…and pass laws and regulations getting on the same page, we’ll be here ready to build the project and make it happen. That is, Spectra has not given up on Access Northeast–and neither should we. Here’s the expansion projects update section, which includes not only the update for Access Northeast, but details for other projects located in the Marcellus/Utica region…
PennEast Pipeline, to their credit, is done being silent when it comes to the lies and distortions of groups like the radical (and lying) New Jersey Sierra Club. Recently PennEast called out the Sierra Club (and THE Delaware Riverkeeper) for their lying ways, without using the word “liar” (see 
You beg and plead and beg and plead. You come with your hat in your hand. You try to explain that no, the pipeline isn’t going to avoid your property, Mr. or Ms. Landowner. But some landowners refuse to negotiate. So the last resort option must be exercised. That’s the situation with Williams’ Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline in several counties in Pennsylvania–including Lancaster, Lebanon, Columbia, Northumberland and Schuylkill. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a final certificate for Atlantic Sunrise, allowing construction to begin, just two weeks ago today (see 
The Rockies Express Pipeline (REX), originally built from Colorado and Wyoming to Monroe County, OH to bring natural gas from west to east, last year reversed the flow for a large and important section of the pipeline. On August 1, 2015 the section of REX from Monroe County, OH to Mexico, MO reversed the flow and began to carry 1.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of Utica and Marcellus Shale gas to the Midwest, including to the greater Chicago area. REX has been hard at work on plans to expand capacity even more by beefing up compressor stations along portions of the pipeline. REX filed a plan with FERC to add another 800 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of capacity along the same portion of the reversed pipeline–for a grand total of 2.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). In mid-December, the first 200 MMcf/d of capacity came online (see 