EQT Moving Up MVP Southgate Construction to THIS YR, Online NEXT YR
Yesterday, EQT Corporation, the largest Marcellus/Utica-only producer by far, issued its second-quarter 2026 update. We’re pulling out what we consider to be the biggest news from that update for this separate post. During an earnings call with analysts, EQT CEO Toby Rice said that since the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the company’s 31-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) Southgate project from southern Virginia into northern North Carolina in June (see FERC Gives OK for MVP Southgate Construction to Begin in N.C), the company has decided to “pull forward capital spending” on the project to this year, meaning construction will begin this year. Read More “EQT Moving Up MVP Southgate Construction to THIS YR, Online NEXT YR”
As part of Kinder Morgan’s second-quarter update, the company made an important announcement that (until now) it had not made. Namely, on May 26, 2026, TGP (Tennessee Gas Pipeline) placed in service its approximately $235 million Cumberland Pipeline project. The 30-inch pipeline is a 32-mile lateral originating from TGP’s existing 100 Line in Dickson County, Tennessee, and terminating at Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) new natural gas-fired power plant in Stewart County, Tennessee. Big Green tried its best to block this project along with the gas-fired power plant, but failed. 
We stumbled across an article by East Daley Analytics that is a real eye-opener for us. East Daley analyzed 13 major public G&P (gathering and processing) operators (i.e., pipeline companies). They found that Expand Energy (created by the merger of Chesapeake Energy with Southwestern Energy), with major assets in the Marcellus/Utica and the Louisiana Haynesville, accounts for 52% of DT Midstream’s gathering volumes, 32% of Williams’, and 21% of Energy Transfer’s throughput. Yikes! Just one company. 
Last November, New Jersey (and New York) issued a federal Clean Water Act permit to build the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project (see 
Last week was (once again) noteworthy for the Baker Hughes rig count. Although the Marcellus/Utica count hasn’t budged for 10 weeks in a row, holding at a combined 36, the national count increased by 7 rigs, reaching its highest level since April 2025. The national count has risen over the last five weeks by a robust 25 rigs. The new national count was 588. Baker Hughes said oil rigs rose by seven to 452 last week, the highest since May 2025, while gas rigs held at 126 and other miscellaneous rigs held at 10. The M-U’s chief competitor, the Haynesville, maintained its count of 55 active rigs, operating 19 more than the M-U’s 36. 
A new wrinkle to report in the case of a South Carolina pipeline, the Elba Express Pipeline, and its quest to build an extension to a gas-fired power plant in Colleton County. In June, we told you that Kinder Morgan, the builder, had been forced to sue some 55 (of the 185) landowners along the proposed route to allow simple access to their property for a survey (see 
In May, Dominion Energy announced plans to construct a multibillion-dollar, 3-gigwatt (GW) combined-cycle natural gas power plant in Cumberland County to address the state’s rapidly increasing electricity demand, particularly from data centers (see 
In June, members of the South Carolina Public Service Commission (PSC) approved a revised project proposal to build a 1,020-megawatt (MW) gas-fired power plant in the state’s Lowcountry, in Colleton County (see 
The Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) investment group 2PointZero, via its subsidiary ePointZero, closed on its deal to acquire U.S. natural gas infrastructure firm Traverse Midstream Partners for $2.25 billion. This acquisition includes stakes in the Rover Pipeline and Ohio River System, which connect the productive Utica/Marcellus shale region to major demand centers and export hubs. The all-cash transaction gives the Abu Dhabi-based energy infrastructure platform a 35% non-operated stake in the Rover Pipeline and a 25% interest in the Ohio River System (ORS), both of which are operated by Energy Transfer. 
Energy Transfer has asked the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) to restructure and dissolve the Sunoco Pipeline Company, separating its pipeline assets between two new entities. Energy Transfer NE NGL Pipelines LLC would own and operate the Mariner East system and other natural gas liquids pipelines, while Energy Transfer RP Pipelines LLC would control refined petroleum product pipelines. The proposal also would transfer Sunoco’s public utility operating certificates. Formal protests and intervention petitions are due July 27, 2026. 
Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage (EGTS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company (Warren Buffett’s company), filed a new project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in July 2025 (see 
Over the years, we have chronicled the far-left Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) lawfare against fracking, gas-fired power plants, and pipelines (
The Trump administration and its officials continue to aggressively push the Williams 125-mile Constitution Pipeline project, which would stretch from the prolific shale gas fields of Susquehanna County, PA, into and through New York State, to Schoharie County, NY, to move Marcellus gas into New York State and New England. In June, Trump EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin visited Binghamton to advocate for reviving the long-stalled project (see