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Antero Wins $96M Lawsuit Against DC Utility for Not Buying Gas

In 2016 WGL Midstream became an investor/joint venture partner in the Stonewall Gathering System, a system which gathers Antero Resources’ natural gas from several West Virginia counties (see M3’s Stonewall Gathering System in WV Gets New Investor/Partner). WGL Midstream is a subsidiary of Washington Gas Light Co., a utility servicing the Washington, D.C. area.
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Wash DC Utility Selling Itself to Canadians, Marcellus Connection

In November rumors swirled that WGL Holdings, the umbrella company that owns Washington (DC) Gas Light Company and WGL Midstream, is considering selling itself to utility giant (and Spanish-based) Iberdrola (see DC NatGas Utility WGL Considers Selling Itself to Spanish Company). Although Iberdrola was sniffing around, apparently they didn’t offer enough money. WGL announced yesterday that instead of selling itself to Ibedrola, it is selling itself to Canadian-based AltaGas Ltd.–for US$6.4 billion. OK, so what does that have to do with the Marcellus/Utica? Plenty. For one, WGL’s midstream (pipeline) subsidiary will be one of the important ways nearly half a billion cubic feet of Marcellus gas will get to the Cove Point LNG facility in Maryland when that facility goes online later this year (see WGL & Antero to Provide Marcellus Gas to India via Cove Point). Second, WGL is the owner of 10% of the Mountain Valley Pipeline project, a $3.5 billion, 301-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA (see WGL Midstream Buys More of Mountain Valley Pipeline). And third, WGL (the utility) is buying and using Marcellus gas for its customers in the Washington, DC area. At one point the utility tried to buy 25 of its own Marcellus wells, a plan rejected by Virginia regulators (see Virginia Rejects Deal for DC-based Utility to Buy Marcellus Wells). So yeah, this is a big deal with implications for the Marcellus…
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New Poll: 62% of Virginians Support Mountain Valley Pipeline

The Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) is a $3.5 billion, 301-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA. The project, which filed an official application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in October 2015, is being built by EQT, NextEra Energy and several other partners including WGL (see today’s companion story). The project has faced stiff opposition from landowners in West Virginia (see Mountain Valley Pipeline Sues 103 WV Landowners for Survey Access). The project has also faced opposition from landowners in Virginia (see Mountain Valley Pipeline Wins Right to Survey in VA w/o Permission). Fortunately the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is signaling its favor for the project (see FERC Gives WV to VA Mountain Valley Pipeline Provisional Thumbs Up). However, that doesn’t stop rabidly radical organizations like the Sierra Club from spreading lies (see Sierra Club Attacks Mountain Valley Pipeline with Sham Report). Mason-Dixon Polling & Research conducted a public opinion poll of Virginians, to see what residents think of the project. The results are in. The question asked was this: “The proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline would transport natural gas underground from West Virginia to Virginia to help meet the demand for energy in homes and businesses in various regions of Virginia and the southeastern United States. Do you support or oppose construction and operation of the Mountain Valley Pipeline?” The response? Some 62% of Virginians support the pipeline, while only 26% oppose it (and 12% are clueless)…
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DC NatGas Utility WGL Considers Selling Itself to Spanish Company

iberdrolaWord has leaked out that WGL Holdings, the umbrella company that owns Washington (DC) Gas Light Company and WGL Midstream, is considering selling itself to utility giant (and Spanish-based) Iberdrola. The deal, if it happens, has implications for the Marcellus. Earlier this month MDN reported that WGL Midstream, which already is a 7% owner in the Mountain Valley Pipeline project, had upped its ownership stake to 10% (see WGL Midstream Buys More of Mountain Valley Pipeline). WGL’s plan is to pipe more Marcellus/Utica gas to the Washington, DC area for sale to customers living in our nation’s capital. Would/could a change in ownership change that plan? It might…
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WGL Midstream Buys More of Mountain Valley Pipeline

MVP-Rev3-2-Overall-10032014
Mountain Valley Pipeline revised route – click for larger version

The Mountain Valley Pipeline is a $3.5 billion, 301-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA. The project, which filed an official application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in October 2015, is being built by EQT, NextEra Energy and several other partners (see Mountain Valley Pipeline Files FERC Appl, Now Just Matter of Time). One of those “several other partners” is WGL Midstream–the midstream arm of Washington (DC) Gas. Some of the 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas that will flow through Mountain Valley Pipeline will head in Washington Gas’ direction–hence their interest. On Monday WGL announced they are increasing their ownership in the Mountain Valley Pipeline project–from 7% to 10%. That 10% interest will cost WGL around $326 million…
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M3’s Stonewall Gathering System in WV Gets New Investor/Partner

In April 2015 MDN told you that a section of M3 Midstream’s Appalachia Gathering System (AGS) had been spun off into its own company called Stonewall Gathering System (see M3’s New Stonewall Gathering System Extends Existing AGS in WV). At the time, plans were under way to build out gathering pipelines in West Virginia’s Harrison and Doddridge counties, running through Lewis and into Braxton County where the pipeline will connect with Columbia Transmission’s interstate pipeline. The plans came to fruition and the Stonewall Gathering System was built and now gathers 1 billion cubic feet of Marcellus Shale gas per day (see Construction on WV Stonewall Gather Pipeline Begins, Runs Thru Dec). The project now has a new investor/co-owner. WGL Midstream announced yesterday that it has exercised an option to invest $89 million in the Stonewall Gas Gathering System, representing a 35% ownership stake…
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Washington Gas $126M Deal to Bring Marcellus Gas to DC Suburbs

Washington Gas, a natural gas utility serving customers in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia, announced a deal last week to purchase Marcellus Shale natural gas directly from 22 producing wells in Pennsylvania to be used to sell to Washington Gas’ customers in Virginia. Yes, some of that cheap, abundant and wholesomely fracked Marcellus Shale gas will be going to the Washington, DC suburbs. The deal is with Energy Corporation of America (ECA) for $126 million and runs for 20 years. It is the first such deal under a new 2014 Virginia law that allows such investments. Here’s the details…
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Mountain Valley Pipeline Picks Up 2 New Investors/Partners

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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WGL & Antero to Provide Marcellus Gas to India via Cove Point

An exciting announcement yesterday. You know that Dominion was given the green light in September and is now building an LNG (liquefied natural gas) export facility in Cove Point, Maryland (see Dominion Gets Final Fed Approval to Build Cove Point LNG Plant). Dominion has already lined up Japan and India to purchase all of the LNG the plant can produce. The question has remained, who will ship natural gas to the plant, and where will that gas come from? Stands to reason most of it (perhaps all of it) will come from the Marcellus and Utica. We previously told you that Cabot Oil & Gas is one of the suppliers–supplying 0.35 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of gas to Japan when the plant is up and operating (see Cabot Signs Deal to Export Gas via Cove Point, MD). We now know of the first official supplier for India: WGL Midstream, using Marcellus gas supplied by Antero Resources…
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New Partner Invests in Marcellus Shale Constitution Pipeline

The Constitution Pipeline is a planned natural gas pipeline that will run from the heavily-producing Marcellus Shale gas fields of Susquehanna County, PA all the way up to Schoharie County, NY, where it will connect with two large interstate pipelines: the Iroquois and the Tennessee (see New Marcellus Constitution Pipeline Announces “Final” Route). The pipeline is a joint venture between Williams Partners, Cabot Oil & Gas and Piedmont Natural Gas. Add to those three partners a new fourth one:

WGL Holdings announced yesterday they will invest $68 million in the project. They’ll get a 10% ownership stake in the project in return…
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Berks County Officials Think Commonwealth Pipeline Will Rise Again

The Commonwealth Pipeline, a joint venture between Inergy, UGI and WGL Holdings, was suspended indefinitely just a few weeks ago (see PA’s Commonwealth Pipeline Project Suspended – Indefinitely). However, officials from Berks County, PA, in the southeastern part of the state and a county through which the Commonwealth Pipeline was slated to pass through, don’t buy it. They believe the project will come back to life and pass through their county, eventually…
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PA’s Commonwealth Pipeline Project Suspended – Indefinitely

In December, MDN told you that work on the 120-mile Commonwealth Pipeline, a Marcellus Shale pipeline running from Lycoming County to the Philadelphia area was “on hold” (see Commonwealth Pipeline for Marcellus Region on Hold). You can now change that to work has been “suspended” on the pipeline—indefinitely. Did the anti-drillers win this particular skirmish in the fracking wars?

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Commonwealth Pipeline for Marcellus Region on Hold

A 120-mile**, large (30-inch) Marcellus Shale pipeline from Lycoming County, in northeastern Pennsylvania, all the way to Rockland, Maryland was announced in March of this year. The three companies planning it—Inergy, UGI and WGL Holdings—dubbed it the Commonwealth Pipeline and said it will cost $1 billion to build it (see this MDN story for the original announcement). The three companies offered a non-binding “open season” (period of time when other companies commit to using capacity in the pipeline) and in June announced the open season went better than expected (see this MDN story).

However, the Commonwealth Pipeline is now on hold and work has stopped. What happened?

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New $1B Marcellus Gas Pipeline Coming from NE PA to MD

Three companies are joining forces to spend $1 billion to build a new Marcellus natural gas pipeline that runs from northern Pennsylvania to Maryland. Most major pipelines head in the other direction, trying to tap into northeastern markets like New York and Boston. But Inergy, UGI and WGL, the three partners, have a different take. They want to send gas in the other direction—to the Mid-Atlantic region—and along the way service markets including Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Dubbed the Commonwealth Pipeline, this new 200 mile, 30-inch pipeline will start in Lycoming County, PA where Inergy is currently building a gathering pipeline to connect Marcellus wells in Bradford and Sullivan counties, and from there go south through central and eastern PA, eventually connecting to WGL’s gas distribution system near Rockville, MD. The new pipeline will connect with other major pipelines along its route allowing gas to move bi-directionally.

From the Inergy press release:

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