Site Prep Begins @ Georgia LNG Export Plant, New Marcellus Market
For more than two years MDN has tracked the progress of a proposed LNG export facility to be located at Elba Island (Georgia, near Savannah), a project of Kinder Morgan, the largest midstream company in the U.S. In June we reported that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave the project a green light (see KM’s Elba Island LNG Export Plant Approved by FERC). We said at the time, “We don’t think it’s much of a stretch that Marcellus Shale gas…will be at least some of, if not the primary, source for gas exported from the Elba Island facility.” Our suspicion was correct. Yesterday FERC authorized the Elba Island project to begin initial site preparation. FERC has not yet authorized the beginning of construction. Each step of the process must receive a “Mother, May I?” authorization from FERC before it gets done. However, an article published yesterday mentions that the Elba Island project will get fed with gas “from a number of producing basins, including the Marcellus shale”…
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Two weeks ago MDN brought you news that oilfield services company Mammoth Energy Services, headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK, with operations in both the Utica Shale and Permian Basin, was floating a new initial public offering (see 
We spotted a press release issued yesterday by Cabot Oil & Gas, providing an update for the Williams Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project. Which kind of surprised us. Why would Cabot issue an update on someone else’s pipeline? Is Cabot an investor in the project? We asked–the answer is “no.” However, Cabot is the major shipper that will use the Central Penn Line portion of the Atlantic Sunrise project. And that’s what the announcement was about. Cabot said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has announced it is actively reviewing two alternative routes for the Central Penn Line, accepting public comment until Nov. 14. OK, so that sometimes happens. Is it worth a press release? Then we read that this development means yet another delay for the Atlantic Sunrise project–and investors immediately punished the stock for both Williams and Cabot. Ah, now we understand! The press release is to reassure investors that Cabot believes FERC, while slowing things down a little, won’t delay things too long. THAT’S what the press release is really all about…
Dominion recently announced a new pipeline project called Eastern Market Access Project. The project will beef up two compressor stations in Virginia, build a new compressor station in Maryland, and add a couple of pipeline taps near Washington, D.C. The purpose of the $145 million project is to deliver more gas to Washington Gas, and to deliver gas to a new gas-fired electric power plant being built in Maryland. We suspect Marcellus/Utica gas will be the added gas flowing to both Washington Gas and the new electric plant in Maryland. [Note: A Dominion spokesman later confirmed to us that the gas will come from either the Marcellus or Utica plays.] You may recall that in May 2015 Washington Gas announced a plan to invest in Marcellus wells in Greene and Clearfield counties in PA (see 
You may recall that TransCanada, one of Canada’s leading midstream/pipeline companies, cooked up a deal 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 
EQT, one of the largest Marcellus/Utica drillers, also owns a sizable pipeline subsidiary, EQT Midstream. EQT announced yesterday it is transferring ownership of its Allegheny Valley Connector pipeline system, which includes several Marcellus Shale gathering pipeline systems, from the Mothership to the child company. They will take $275 million out of one pocket and put it in a different pocket–on the same pair of pants. Such is how things are done in high finance. EQT picked up Allegheny Valley Connector in a $720 million deal with Peoples Natural Gas in 2013 (see 
We doubt many MDN readers buy Patagonia outdoor wear (appeals mainly to aging hippies). But just in case, we thought we’d pass along something we noticed. The store chain is making a push to sign up Democrat voters, which doesn’t surprise us. As part of their overt political activism, the Washington, D.C. Patagonia store also elected to bash the Dominion Atlantic Coast Pipeline project. We thing that deserves a call to boycott their stores and their brand…
Marathon Petroleum, which purchased midstream company MarkWest Energy last year, continues to grow and expand–because of the Utica Shale. Marathon operates a refinery in Canton, OH that processes crude oil. Question: Did you know that 25% of the crude oil being processed at the Marathon refinery comes from the Utica Shale? No, we didn’t know that either! Marathon has made some big bets on the Utica. In fact, over the past two years, they’ve bet more than $1 billion on the Utica…
We have, as long as we’ve been writing the MDN website, warned that the federal Environmental Protection Agency, particularly under B.H. Obama, is an out-of-control, lawless, aggressive cancer on the country. The EPA has repeatedly attempted to UNCONSTITUTIONALLY control oil and gas drilling–something only state governments have the right to regulate. The EPA has repeatedly sought to influence (i.e. control) o&g development via other means–like expanding the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and Waters of the United States (WOTUS). The latest evidence of EPA’s illegal overreach comes with EPA’s bullying of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). EPA is telling FERC to get its head screwed on straight with respect to an approval for two Marcellus/Utica projects–Leach Xpress and Rayne Xpress Expansion projects. EPA says FERC is ignoring mythological man-made global warming bullcrap in their review of the projects, and EPA is demanding a meeting with the top brass at FERC to bully them into submission…
Kinder Morgan’s UTOPIA (Utica To Ontario Pipeline Access) pipeline is a 12-inch ethane pipeline that will run ~240 miles and will only be built in Ohio–therefore the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) won’t be involved in permitting the project. In September we noted that Kinder Morgan is still facing opposition from some Ohio landowners (see 
The Baker Hughes rig count, watched closely by those in the industry (the benchmark used across the world) has been trending up in the U.S. since July. BH released their venerable count for September on Friday and once again the counts have gone up–very good news indeed. BH is reporting an average of 509 active rigs in the U.S., up 28 from August. MDN performs its own rig count for the Marcellus/Utica, using BH’s numbers for Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. The Marcellus/Utica rig count was up for the second month running. In September the M/U rig count jumped up by 7. The biggest gainer was Pennsylvania, up by 5. West Virginia was up by 2, and Ohio stayed even…