Gas Haters Protest as New Emissions-Free Compressor is Built in NJ
In April of this year, Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s (TGP) plan to flow more Marcellus gas to Westchester County, NY, and to New York City, called the East 300 Upgrade Project, took a giant leap forward when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued permits that allow TGP to upgrade two existing compressor stations (in PA), and build a brand new compressor station in West Milford (Passaic County, NJ), just across the border and not far from Westchester County (see FERC Issues Compressor Permits for TGP’s East 300 Upgrade in NY, NJ). TGP is beginning the work to build the new compressor in West Milford, which prompted a small group of Food & Water Watch protesters to assemble and mouth off on Saturday.
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Equitrans Midstream (formerly EQT Midstream) owns the Rager Mountain Gas Storage Area in Jackson Township, Cambria County, in Pennsylvania. Beginning Nov. 6th, one of the wells at the Rager Mountain area (a depleted conventional well drilled in 1965) began leaking methane around the well casing (see 
Investors in the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) continue to write down their investments in the long-delayed project. MVP, which is 95% done and in the ground, travels from Wetzel County, WV, to Pittsylvania County, VA, where it connects with other pipelines to carry Marcellus/Utica molecules to the southeastern U.S. RGC Midstream, which is owned by RGC Resources, is a very small investor in the project. RGC said this week it is taking a further impairment (writing down value) for its investment in MVP.
This is rare. The CEO of Williams (Alan Armstrong), one of the largest pipeline (midstream) companies in the U.S. and on the planet, sent an open letter (an official filing) to the Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Richard “Dick” Glick, using pretty abrupt language to tell Glick FERC needs to approve the Regional Energy Access expansion project by November 30th or the project WILL be delayed by a full year. The letter has the look and feel of an ultimatum.
EQT Corporation, the largest producer of natural gas in the U.S, has cut a deal to send 15 petajoules (PJ) of RSG (responsibly sourced gas) from the Marcellus/Utica to Canada’s largest natural gas distribution company, Enbridge Gas, over the next 12 months. This is a major deal. Running the numbers, 15 petajoules works out to be roughly 14 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of Marcellus/Utica gas.
Earlier this year, Equitrans Midstream announced it had filed a new pipeline expansion project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (see 
Pennsylvania State Senator Katie Muth’s attempt to block a proposed frack wastewater treatment plant in Dimock (hours away from her own district) has completely bombed out. Muth tried to challenge and block a permit for the plant, an effort which was mostly rejected in court back in June (see 
EQT has sued its own (former) law firm, Baker Botts, and one of the partners at the firm, for allegedly giving the company bad advice with respect to the Hammerhead Pipeline gathering system owned by Equitrans Midstream (EQT’s former subsidiary). The lawsuit seeks at least $1 million in damages. Baker Botts is based in Texas, so the lawsuit was filed in the 61st District Court in Harris County, TX. Hammerhead is a $555 million, approximately 190-mile gathering system created by Equitrans to gather EQT’s production in southwest PA and haul it (64 miles) to Mobley, WV, where it will connect with the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and EQT’s Ohio Valley Connector pipeline (see 
The Catholic nuns of Lancaster County’s Adorers of the Blood of Christ are still, all these years later, trying to shake down Williams for more money because of a pipeline that runs underneath a cornfield owned by the sisters (hence our nickname for them). Using lawyers from Big Green groups, the nuns argued their “religious beliefs” were offended by the pipeline because it flows a nasty, filthy fossil fuel that causes global warming. We’ve lost track of how many lawsuits the sisters have filed, using OPM (other people’s money). The most recent lawsuit, filed in the Philadelphia-based U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals, was just shot down by the court.
Bloomberg is reporting that “sources” are chattering that Dominion Energy, the majority owner of Cove Point, Maryland, LNG export facility with a 50% stake in the plant, is considering selling its stake. In July 2020, Dominion sold its natural gas pipeline business along with a 25% stake in Cove Point to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathway (see 
On Tuesday, the co-CEO of Energy Transfer, Marshall McCrea, went on an extended rant during the company’s quarterly update about Joe Biden’s energy policies and the Bidenistas in federal agencies who are attacking the fossil fuel industry. McCrea compared Biden’s policies to a sitcom, like a Saturday Night Live skit. McCrea said, “I mean, my goodness, if this doesn’t seem like a sitcom or Saturday Night Live skit, it’d be funny if it wasn’t so tragically sad. I guess we’re kind of tired of being attacked in the fossil-fuel business.” His comments triggered something. We think we know the genesis of McCrea’s comments comparing Biden to an SNL skit. Last weekend, just before Halloween, SNL ran a faux Halloween movie trailer about Biden running in 2024. It is *hysterically* funny. The skit skewers not only Biden, but other potential 2024 candidates, including Kamala Harris, Beto O’Rourke, Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders, and (yes) even Hillary Clinton! You know when the left turns on itself and uses humor to destroy its own candidates, it’s all over and done.
Last December, Columbia Gas Transmission pre-filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build the Virginia Reliability Project that will add 100 MMcf/d of incremental capacity on Columbia’s system to serve delivery points in southeast Virginia, namely Virginia Natural Gas (see 
Yesterday Equitrans Midstream, the builder and majority owner of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project, issued its third quarter 2022 update. The big news (for us) was that Thomas F. Karam, CEO of Equitrans, said that if the 95% complete MVP is going to get finished, it’s probably going to take an act of Congress to do it. The same three clown judges (our words) of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals are signaling they will continue to block MVP, says Karam. In contrast to the clouds over MVP, yesterday’s update shared a bit of good news for a second Equitrans project.
Yesterday, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce held its “Energy Supply Chain: Present & Future” conference at the Ohio Statehouse Atrium in Columbus. Participants and speakers included oil and natural gas producers, pipeline operators, policymakers, renewable companies, and more. Questions largely centered on the energy transition and how various resources fit into a so-called sustainable future. The upshot was that Ohio’s natural gas (mostly Utica, some Marcellus) is front and center as a driving force for Ohio energy, and the Ohio economy.