Energy Services

Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Millennium Pipeline | New York | Pipelines | Statewide NY

NY’s Millennium Pipeline Launches Open Season to Expand
March 12, 2015March 12, 2015

The Millennium Pipeline–a natural gas pipeline running through upstate New York’s Southern Tier area from Corning, NY to Rockland County, NY–announced a new open season yesterday. The open season will sign up new customers from now until the end of the month, March 31. The Millennium, which is jointly owned by NiSource, National Grid and DTE Energy, plans to expand facilities along the line, increasing capacity. That usually means they will install some new loops, or additional pipelines right next to the existing pipeline, along with upgrades to compressor plants. The purpose? Deliver more clean-burning natural gas to customers throughout the northeast…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | WGL Holdings

Mountain Valley Pipeline Picks Up 2 New Investors/Partners
March 12, 2015March 12, 2015

Yesterday we told you that some landowners in West Virginia are not happy with what they call threatening letters coming from the Mountain Valley Pipeline (see WV Landowners Say They’re Bullied by Mountain Valley Pipeline). MVP is a 330-mile pipeline from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA. It’s a joint venture between EQT and NextEra US Gas Assets. At least it was a jv between the two until yesterday when MVP announced two more partners/investors: WGL Midstream and Vega Midstream. Who’s on top? EQT owns 55% (and manages) the jv, NextEra owns 35%, WGL will own 7% and Vega 3%. Here’s the announcement from yesterday…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Statewide WV | West Virginia

EQT Sells WV Pipeline Gathering System to Itself for $1B
March 11, 2015March 11, 2015

We’re always somewhat amused by these stories. Sometimes a company will spin off a division into its own company–a subsidiary–and later transfer or “sell” certain assets to the subsidiary. On paper the subsidiary is its own company with its own set of investors, its own board, and its own management. But the primary investor with controlling interest remains the mother company. For all practical purposes, the subsidiary IS the same company as the mother company. Midstream companies tend to do this with some regularity. Back in 2012 we noted that Kinder Morgan did it (see Kinder Morgan Sells Tennessee Pipeline to Itself). This week it’s EQT–selling its Northern West Virginia Marcellus Gathering System, along with a “preferred interest” in another EQT subsidiary, for $1.05 billion to the company’s pipeline subsidiary, EQT Midstream Partners…
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Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Regency Energy Partners

ETP Buyout of Regency Energy Has a Date: April 28
March 11, 2015March 11, 2015

In January MDN brought you the big news that Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) is buying/merging with Regency Energy Partners (see Energy Transfer Partners Buys Regency Energy for $25B). Both companies have meaningful operations in the Marcellus/Utica region. These mergers & acquisitions, as you know, take time. Both companies have been busy and Regency reported earlier this week they have a date to make it all final: April 28. On that date, Regency will hold a special meeting at their company headquarters in Dallas, TX to vote on the deal…
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Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners

ETP Swapping $2.5B of Old Debt for New Debt, Floats Notes
March 11, 2015March 11, 2015

Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) is buying Regency Energy Partners and assuming $6.8 billion worth of debt in the process (see Energy Transfer Partners Buys Regency Energy for $25B). Apparently it’s time to clean up the old debt ETP has on the books, so they’re floating notes (or IOUs) looking to trade $2.5 billion worth of new debt for old debt…
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Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH

OH Law Firm Asks FERC to Stop ET Rover Pipeline Eminent Domain
March 10, 2015March 10, 2015

Columbus, OH law firm has filed a motion with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) challenging Energy Transfer Partners’ ET Rover application before FERC. The issue at the heart of the motion is to prevent ET Rover from invoking eminent domain and steamrollering over landowners, building the pipeline without an agreement in place with each individual landowner first. When pipeline companies have the power of eminent domain, they hold all the cards. They can say, “Here’s the offer–take it or leave it–and if you leave it, we’ll build the pipeline through your land anyway at the price we want.” We’ve never been fans of eminent domain for pipelines. Far better for pipeline companies to work it out with landowners and pay them–or reroute it through someone else’s property who will play ball. We acknowledge it’s a thorny issue and not completely black and white. ET Rover is an 830-mile, $4.4 billion pipeline that will flow Marcellus and Utica Shale gas from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada (see ET Rover Pipeline’s 800-Mile Journey Begins with FERC Filing). The bulk of the pipeline will run diagonally from southeast to northwest across Ohio. Just yesterday we told you about ET Rover’s program to help landowners (see ET Rover Pipeline Hires Land Stewards to Protect the Land in OH). The motion filed with FERC, from what we can tell in reading the press release and the motion itself (embedded below) is not an attempt to stop ET Rover–it’s an attempt to give landowners more negotiating power and leave them firmly in control of whether, and how much, they will accept to allow the pipeline through their property…
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Crestwood Midstream | Energy Services

Crestwood Midstream Floats $700M in IOUs
March 10, 2015March 10, 2015

It’s still the season to float “unsecured notes” (i.e. IOUs) for both drillers and pipeline companies. The latest we’ve noticed is Crestwood Midstream. A year and a half ago Crestwood merged with and bought out Inergy, creating a large pipeline and processing plant company with major operations in the northeast (see Crestwood/Inergy Complete Their Merger Today, Worth $8B). Yesterday Crestwood floated notes hoping to score $700 million in cash, to be used to pay down older debt. Here’s their announcement…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

Sunoco Reconciles Differences with Municipalities re Mariner East
March 9, 2015March 9, 2015

Hats off to Sunoco Logistics. In order to complete the conversion of a decades-old pipeline already in the ground, the Mariner East 1 pipeline, into flowing natural gas liquids (propane and ethane) across the state to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia, the company needs to build or upgrade 31 pump and valve stations along the existing pipeline. A legal battle ensued with resistance from many of the local municipalities, largely ginned up by scare stories from the usual sources like the Clean Air Council, THE Delaware Riverkeeper, Mountain Watershed Association and their sycophantic buddies in mainstream media outlets like PBS’ StateImpact Pennsylvania. Sunoco felt it had no option but to try and get the pipeline declared a public utility and by extension, use eminent domain to avoid local zoning ordinances. There have been plenty of legal twists and turns along the way (see our list of stories here). Sunoco has worked out their differences with 22 of the 31 townships and they are now hammering out deals with the rest. So they’ve withdrawn their application with the state Public Utility Commission (PUC) to be exempted from local zoning ordinances–no eminent domain. Anti-drillers are feverishly trying to spin this as a loss for Sunoco Logistics–that the company has “backed down” and is beaten. What it is, is a major victory for Sunoco–the pipeline will be completed (very soon) and NGLs will flow all the way to Marcus Hook…
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Ashtabula County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Processing Plants | Regulation | Utica Shale | Velocys | Wastewater

OH EPA Issues Draft Lake Erie Discharge Permit for Ashtabula GTL Plant
March 9, 2015March 9, 2015

The Ashtabula (OH) gas-to-liquids, or GTL, plant is ever-so-gradually making progress. In Sept. 2013 MDN first told you about this innovative plant coming to Ashtabula County (see Utica Shale Gas-to-Liquids Plant Planned for Ashtabula, OH). The plant will convert Marcellus and Utica Shale gas into diesel fuel, lubricants, solvents and waxes. The technology used for the plant is provided by a UK company called Velocys. In June 2014, Velocys bought out the Astabula operation and took up the reigns of the project (see UK-based Velocys Buys Ashtabula, OH GTL Plant). We didn’t hear anything about it until January of this year when Ashtabula Energy, a division of Velocys, has filed for a permit with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) that would allow the plant to discharge wastewater into Lake Erie (see New Life for Ashtabula Gas-to-Liquids Plant, Files for Permit). The new news is that the OEPA has issued a draft discharge permit for the plant and has scheduled a public hearing on it…
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Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH

ET Rover Pipeline Hires Land Stewards to Protect the Land in OH
March 9, 2015March 9, 2015

As we’ve been reporting for some time, Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) plans to build an 830-mile, $4.4 billion pipeline, called the ET Rover Pipeline, from PA and WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada (see ET Rover Pipeline’s 800-Mile Journey Begins with FERC Filing). The pipeline will flow Marcellus and Utica Shale gas to Midwestern US markets and to Canadian markets. The longest stretch of pipeline will cross OH. In an effort to ensure Ohioans have an advocate to ensure their land is impacted as minimally as is possible, ETP is paying for the services of an ombudsman, a representative who will look out for the landowner’s best interest. It is Ohio-based firm Land Stewards–“a team of certified soil scientists, agricultural engineers, agronomists and conservation planners.” Does ETP get thanked taking this extraordinary over-and-above step? No. Instead, they get criticized…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Kinder Morgan Fails to Sign Up New NED Customers in Last 8 Mos
March 6, 2015March 6, 2015

Yesterday Kinder Morgan announced they have contracts in hand for “anchor” shippers to use 500,000 dekatherms of capacity on the proposed new Northeast Energy Direct (NED) Project. NED, you may recall, is the project that will extend the Tennessee Gas Pipeline from New York through Massachusetts into New Hampshire and back into Massachusetts delivering much-needed natural gas to New England (see Kinder Morgan Changes Route for Pipeline from MA to NH). The project is bitterly opposed by small pockets of anti-drillers–particularly in Deerfield, MA where they’ve illegally attempted to ban it (see Deerfield, MA Hoping Kinder Morgan Sues Them over Pipeline “Ban”). The interesting thing about yesterday’s announcement from Kinder Morgan is that there’s really nothing new in it! Other than the fact that they now have the officially signed agreements in hand. MDN brought you the same news about the same shippers signing up in the original open season last August (see Kinder Signs up New Customers for MA Pipeline, 63% of Capacity). Kinder continues, according to the announcement yesterday, to try and sign up more shippers. So the real news–for us–is that since August, Kinder hasn’t signed up any other new shippers, even though they’ve been trying to…
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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Statewide NY

NY Antis Flood FERC in Fight Against Dominion’s New Market Project
March 5, 2015March 5, 2015

By Andy Leahy

By most measures, Dominion Transmission’s New Market Project is a fairly dull $159 million capacity upgrade to an existing natural gas pipeline which runs across upstate New York from the PA line, west of Horseheads, northeasterly to the state’s Capital Region (see the map below). We are now about a month away from the originally forecast April 2015 date when Dominion thought it might get a green light from FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Docket Number CP14-497). September 2015 was originally forecast for beginning construction (280 jobs, all temporary, as are all construction jobs), while November 2016 was the target in-service date (adding 10 to 12 permanent jobs, running forward)…
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Energy Services | GASFRAC | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Bankrupt Waterless Fracking Co GASFRAC Sold to “Third Party”
March 4, 2015March 4, 2015

It’s either a sad ending, or a happy new beginning–we’re not sure which. For some time MDN has chronicled the ups and mostly downs of Canadian company GASFRAC, a pioneer and perhaps best shot (so far) in providing a waterless alternative to fracking shale wells. The company ran an experimental frack job on a Utica Shale well for EV Energy Partners last year (see Details on GASFRAC’s Waterless Frack Test in OH Utica). EV has not released any details about that frack job, good or bad–so far. GASFRAC has been in financial trouble for a few years now and we reported earlier this year the company filed for bankruptcy protection and put themselves and/or any of their assets up for sale (see Fire Sale for GASFRAC Waterless Fracking Co, Interim CEO Resigns). The sale has happened…
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Energy Services | Seventy Seven Energy

Seventy Seven Energy 2014: Revenue Down 5%, Losing Money
March 4, 2015March 4, 2015

Seventy Seven Energy, with major operations in the northeast, is the old Chesapeake Oilfield Operating division of Chesapeake–spun off into its own company on July 1, 2014 (see Long Labor & Delivery: Seventy Seven Energy Born Yesterday). On Monday the company released their 2014 full year and fourth quarter update. The company’s revenue was down 5% in 2014 compared with 2013, and they lost money ($8 million, or 17 cents per share). Company CEO Jerry Winchester says the company is in a good position to “weather the storm the industry is currently experiencing and take advantage of the opportunities that will arise from it.” Below is the update…
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Energy Services | MarkWest Energy

MarkWest Hauls in $650M Cash from New IOUs, Paying Down Old Debt
March 4, 2015March 4, 2015

Last week MDN highlighted the latest round of debt financing being offered by MarkWest Energy (see MarkWest Floats Notes Seeking $650M…or $500M…or $1.15B – Which?). We noted two announcements about debt financing–one offering $650 million in IOUs (otherwise called notes) and one for $500 million. Seems the $500 million announcement was a restatement or reiteration of a round of financing from 2014. How do we know? MarkWest yesterday said it had successfully completed closed it’s offering of $650 million…
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Energy Services | Williams

Williams Hauls in $1B Cash from New IOUs, Paying Down Old Debt
March 4, 2015March 4, 2015

Not to be outdone by MarkWest that just raised $650 million in cash from new IOUs–MDN noted last week that Williams had gone shopping for several multiples of that amount (see Williams Goes Shopping for $3B, Floating Notes to Pay Down Debt). Williams reported yesterday they were successful in raising all $3 billion, some of which they’ll use to pay down older debt…
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