Energy Services

Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | PennEast Pipeline | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA State Law Prevents PennEast Pipeline from Paying Property Tax
November 17, 2014November 17, 2014

If you live in New Jersey and you live in a county or township where the PennEast Pipeline will be built, you’re in for a treat: You get a shot of extra revenue every year for the town/county budget in the form of real estate taxes (often referred to as property taxes). PennEast figures Hunterdon County, NJ will see something like $1 million per year in tax revenue from the pipeline. But just over the border in Pennsylvania it’s a different story. In PA natural gas pipelines are not considered “real estate” but instead equipment, and therefore pipelines are not taxed…
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Chemung County | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Madison County | Montgomery County | New York | Pipelines

Dominion’s NY Compressor Plants to Move More Marcellus Gas
November 17, 2014November 17, 2014

In June 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). It 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 pipeline runs through the Horseheads, Ithaca, Syracuse and Albany areas. We have some details about that project, including details about the proposed compressor station in Chemung County, NY…
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Energy Services | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | UIL Holdings

PDN: City Council Ruined the Promise of Energy Hub in Philly
November 17, 2014November 17, 2014

Can Philadelphia ever be THE energy of hub of the northeast? According to an editorial in the Philadelphia Daily News, City Council has ruined that possibility by scuttling the deal to sell Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) to UIL Holdings (see Phila. City Council’s 6-Hour Hearing on PGW Sale, UIL Appearance). According to the editorial writers, City Council is focusing on retaining 1,600 (and shrinking) public sector union jobs at PGW instead of allowing the sale of PGW which potentially could lead to Philly becoming THE northeast energy hub employing 10 times that number of energy jobs…
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Baker Hughes | Energy Services | Halliburton | Industrywide Issues | M&A

Big News: Halliburton in Talks to Buy Baker Hughes
November 14, 2014November 14, 2014

The biggest news to hit the oil and gas industry in recent memory happened yesterday. The financial press lit up (and ran HUNDREDS of stories) about the leak/announcement/news that oilfield services company Halliburton is “in talks” to buy out rival Baker Hughes. The largest oilfield services company in the U.S. (and in the world) is Schlumberger, followed by Halliburton (again, in both the world and in the U.S.). Baker Hughes (BH) is the fifth largest oilfield services company in the world, but #3 in the U.S. Halliburton’s market capitalization this morning–price per share times outstanding number of shares–is $47.65 billion. Baker Hughes’ market cap is $26.59 billion, up $5 billion since yesterday afternoon when the news broke. Combined, the two companies would be worth $74.24 billion and employ (if there are no layoffs) 144,000 people. Schlumberger’s market cap, by comparison, is $127.62 billion with 126,000 employees. Both Halliburton and BH are heavily involved in providing all sorts of services (rigs, fracking, logistics, etc.) for exploration & production companies in both the Marcellus and Utica, as well as every other major shale play in the U.S. AND in every conventional play around the world…
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Accidents | Blue Racer Midstream | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Noble County | Ohio

Blue Racer Midstream Explosion Kills One Worker in OH
November 14, 2014November 14, 2014

There was an explosion and fire at a Blue Racer Midstream condensate pumping skid (equipment that moves natural gas liquids through the stabilizer process) in Noble County, OH. An electrical contract worker from Virginia, Norman Butler (48 years old), sadly, was killed. The pump station is located next to a CONSOL Energy drill pad in northwest Marion Township, about 50 miles west of Wheeling, WV, between Interstates 70 and 77. A CONSOL spokesperson said none of the equipment at their site was affected and everything has been shut-in for now…
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Energy Services | GASFRAC | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

GASFRAC Begins Waterless Fracking Job in OH Utica
November 14, 2014November 14, 2014

In May 2012 Canadian GASFRAC, a company that has pioneered waterless fracking by using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG, or propane) said they had contracted with an unnamed company to use their LPG fracking technology on two Utica Shale wells, as an experiment (see GASFRAC Waterless Fracking Technology Debuts in Utica Shale). How did it go? As far as we can tell, it never happened. Until now. According to the company’s third quarter update, released today, they’ve just begun to fracture their first well in the Utica. GASFRAC has been a company in trouble. They fired the CEO and COO in September 2012 (see Waterless LPG Fracking Company GASFRAC Fires its CEO, COO). The current CEO, according to today’s announcement, is still listed as being “interim”–meaning they still haven’t settled on a new long-term leader for the company. Revenues have tanked in the past year. Reading between the lines, the finances of the company look pretty bleak. According to interim CEO, Mark Williamson, all options are on the table for the company: soldier on and hope to improve the bottom line (not likely in our humble opinion), merge with someone else, or sell bits and pieces or the whole thing to someone else…
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Energy Services | EnLink Midstream

EnLink’s Quest for Cash: Floats 10.5 Million Units to Raise $300M
November 14, 2014November 14, 2014

EnLink Midstream, a pipeline and processing plant company that operates in the northeast and other regions, is on a mission to raise cash. The company is actually two companies on paper: EnLink Midstream LLC (stock ticker ENLC) and EnLink Midstream Partners, LP (ticker ENLK). The later is a master limited partnership, or MLP, meaning they don’t issue shares of stock but something called “units”–which are roughly the same thing as shares of stock. EnLink’s units are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. It was just last week that EnLink floated notes hoping to raise around $400 million (see EnLink Midstream Floats Notes, Hopes to Raise $400M for Expansion). Yesterday the MLP announced they are issuing another 10.5 million units. At this morning’s unit price of $29.43, that would represent another $309 million of cash. Hence our comment that they’re on a mission to raise cash…
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Energy Services | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | UIL Holdings

Phila. City Council’s 6-Hour Hearing on PGW Sale, UIL Appearance
November 14, 2014November 14, 2014

More on the drama of the corrupt Philadelphia City Council’s scuttling of the sale of the municipal-owned Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) to Connecticut utility UIL Holdings. Yesterday City Council held hearings on alternatives to selling PGW and made a representative from UIL wait until the very end of six hours of hearings to give him 10 minutes to speak…
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Axiall | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Gastar Exploration | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Marshall County | West Virginia

Gastar Fracking Near WV Chemical Plant Halted Pending Court Review
November 13, 2014November 13, 2014

Chemical manufacturer Axiall, with a plant in Natrium (Marshall County), WV, has successfully stopped Gastar from fracking several drilled shale wells located near the chemical plant. Why? They’re afraid that the fracking process will allow gas to travel underground and affect their previously drilled brine wells in the area. That exact scenario, according to Axiall, played out last year when Triad Hunter fracked wells nearby. The fracking, according to Axiall, led to a blowout at one of their brine wells and the well began emitting natural gas–an explosion hazard. A judge agreed with Axiall and put a stop to any fracking by Gastar pending a full hearing before the court…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | Pennsylvania | Shell | Tioga County (PA) | UGI Energy Services | Utica Shale

UGI First Utility in PA with Direct Connection to Utica Shale
November 13, 2014November 13, 2014

The next big story for the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale is not the Marcellus…it’s the Utica Shale, a layer a few thousand feet below the Marcellus. Our first piece of evidence? In September we brought you the exciting news that Shell has drilled six Utica wells in Tioga County, PA, two of them going online with stellar production (see Shell Drills 2 Successful Utica Wells in NEPA Marcellusland). Our second piece of evidence? UGI, a major utility company in Pennsylvania, reports they’ve just hooked one of those Utica wells into their natural gas distribution system–making UGI the first PA utility to directly tap into a Utica Shale well for retail residential delivery…
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CNG/LNG | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | UIL Holdings

LNG Facility the Crown Jewel in Scuttled PGW Sale
November 13, 2014November 13, 2014

We find it interesting now that the corrupt Philadelphia City Council has torpedoed the deal to sell the Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) to Connecticut utility company UIL Holding, the talk by council members has returned to the shiniest jewel in the PGW crown: their small LNG facility. You may recall that MDN previously warned of an ex-Enron employee, Boris Brevnov, who wanted to tank the sale to UIL so he could gain control of the LNG facility for himself (see Former Enron Exec Makes “Unethical” Play to Derail PGW Deal). With the deal now hosed, is Brevnov working in the background to get the LNG facility? We have no proof of that, but the thought has crossed our mind. The Philadelphia Inquirer has an article delving into the LNG facility and what may happen next in the ongoing saga of the PGW sale…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lebanon County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Sunoco Logistics

Sunoco Presents on Mariner East Pump Station in Lebanon, PA
November 12, 2014November 12, 2014

On Monday we told you that a few committed anti-drillers in Lebanon County, PA have been distracted from opposing the Williams Atlantic Sunrise pipeline project by shiny object syndrome–another pipeline project, from Sunoco Logistics (see New Target for Lebanon, PA Antis: Mariner East Pipeline). The Mariner East pipeline has been in the ground for decades, but Sunoco is repurposing the pipeline to flow natural gas liquids and that requires building a new pump station. A Sunoco rep presented information about the pipeline and the pumping station last night at the West Cornwall town board meeting–but the three Lebanon residents appealing the permits for the station with the zoning board weren’t allowed to ask questions, and boy oh boy did that tick them off…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Crestwood Midstream | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Schuyler County

10 Antis Arrested for Blocking Crestwood Facility at Seneca Lake
November 12, 2014November 12, 2014

It’s sad to see a member of our highly esteemed and respected armed forces fall for the lies of those who hate fossil fuels. Apparently the nutty Sandra Steingraber, the so-called “distinguished scholar in residence” at Ithaca College (meaning the Park Foundation funds her inane headline-grabbing hippie protests while she does precisely nothing at Ithaca College and earns a big salary) has hoodwinked U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Colleen Boland (retired) into supporting her extreme views. The two women were part of a small group who showed up outside of a former salt mine along the shore of Seneca Lake (near Watkins Glen, NY), the site of a proposed underground storage facility for liquefied petroleum gas (or propane) to illegally block the entrance. They were arrested and removed. This isn’t the first time Steingraber has been arrested at the facility…
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Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | NiSource | Northampton County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines

Columbia Hits Resistance to Compressor Upgrade in SE PA
November 11, 2014November 11, 2014

A year and a half ago MDN told you that Columbia Gas, a subsidiary of NiSource, was planning to upgrade a compressor station in Forks Township (Northampton County), PA (see Columbia’s SE PA Pipeline Project Includes Compressor Upgrade). The upgrade is part of Columbia’s East Side Expansion project, a project that includes 16 miles of new pipelines to carry cheap Marcellus Shale gas to a natural gas-powered electric generating plant (and other customers) across the border in New Jersey. Last year we reported that the neighbors of the project were just fine with the upgrade. Today, that’s changed, although how much opposition is yet to be fully determined…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Minuteman Environmental Services | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA AG Kane Tries to Derail Counter Lawsuit in Minuteman Bankruptcy
November 10, 2014November 10, 2014

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane is once again trying to manipulate the court system to support her ongoing witch hunts into the Marcellus Shale industry. You may recall she previously abused her office in filing criminal charges against XTO Energy for an accidental spill that occurred two years before she took office (see PA AG Abuses Her Authority, Files Criminal Charges Against XTO). She’s also brought criminal charges against EQT (see PA Attorney Gen. Kane Abuses Office Again, Arrest Warrant for EQT). But it’s not only the big boys she has a vendetta against. She also shut down a small company that does environmental remediation and wastewater disposal (see Minuteman Enviro Says PA AG Office “Terrorized” Family Members, Filing Lawsuit). The company had the audacity to fight back, filing their own lawsuit against Kane because she’s forced the company into bankruptcy by her abusive actions (see Minuteman Sues AG Kane’s Office for $20M + Punitive Damages). Kane now wants to keep the bankruptcy court judge from making a ruling in that lawsuit, furthering her abuse of power…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lebanon County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Sunoco Logistics

New Target for Lebanon, PA Antis: Mariner East Pipeline
November 10, 2014November 10, 2014

Even when we’re joking–we’re often right! Case in point: A week and a half ago we noted that Sunoco Logistics had begun testing the Mariner East pipeline in Lebanon County, PA (see Mariner East NGL Pipeline Begins Tests in Lebanon, PA). Sunoco is repurposing the pipeline to flow natural gas liquids. In referencing the small but dedicated band of anti-drillers in the county who oppose the Williams Atlantic Sunrise pipeline project, we said at the time, “Wait til they wake up and realize a pipeline already in the ground (has been for decades) is about to be reactivated!” Indeed. Three residents from West Cornwall Township in Lebanon County have filed a zoning appeal against the county for issuing permits to Sunoco Logistics allowing a pump station in the township…
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