Williams Reveals Eminent Domain Strategy for Atlantic Sunrise
One of the interesting breakout sessions MDN editor Jim Willis attended at last week’s Shale Insight event in Pittsburgh was a panel of lawyers discussing recent rulings in the Marcellus/Utica related to eminent domain and royalties. Sitting with the lawyers was a non-lawyer panelist from Williams. Aaron Blair is right-of-way manager for Williams in the northeast. He managed securing easements for the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project, Williams’ $3 billion, 198-mile pipeline project running through 10 Pennsylvania counties to connect Marcellus Shale natural gas from northeastern PA with the Williams’ Transco pipeline in southern Lancaster County. The lawyers on the panel peppered Blair with questions about his strategy for securing rights. Blair’s strategy boils down to this: if/when you need to file for eminent domain, do so in federal, NOT Pennsylvania state court (and certainly not with appointed commissions). Blair finds federal judges know the law and stick to the law–and the case law with regard to eminent domain, whether you like it or not, is quite clear when it comes to pipelines. Atlantic Sunrise began with needing leases from about 950 landowners. In the end, just under 50 of them had to be settled with eminent domain proceedings in court. Here’s an overview of what Blair said on the panel…
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Landowners in Wayne (and Pike) counties in northeastern Pennsylvania are not going to stand by and allow their property rights to be stripped away from them. Two weeks ago the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), which has had an ongoing, “temporary” ban on fracking within the Delaware River Basin since 2010, voted to begin the process of implementing a permanent ban (see 
Lone Pine Resources, a U.S.-based driller, has a huge amount of Canadian Utica Shale acreage in the province of Quebec. As we reported in 2012, they own 398,850 gross (240,320 net) acres of leases (see 
On Wednesday, EQT announced the company has floated $3 billion (yikes!) of IOUs–called “notes” in the financial industry–with various due dates and interest rates payable, in order to make a cash payment due as part of their purchase of Rice Energy. The total deal is worth $8.2 billion, with EQT paying $6.7 billion and assuming Rice’s existing debt of $1.5 billion (see 
One of the major themes at this year’s Shale Insight, emphasized several times, is that “We need pipelines, and we need them asap.” MDN heard that refrain a number of times, in different sessions. The good news is that there is more than $23 billion in planned pipeline investment to build more than 3,200 miles of pipelines–either planned or under development–for the Marcellus/Utica region. If you add these 15 project together, they will move another 17 billion cubic feet of Marcellus and Utica natural gas, and 345,000 barrels of natural gas liquids (NGLs), PER DAY! Some of these pipeline projects are already under construction, nearing completion. Some have just begun construction. Some will begin construction soon. And some are still waiting for regulatory approvals. A few are tied up in court, attempting to overcome state bans in New York. Any way you slice it and dice it, more pipelines ARE on the way, asap. And that’s very good news. Below is a list of the 15 projects, courtesy our friends at Energy in Depth…
A group of Catholic nuns in Lancaster County called Adorers of the Blood of Christ have tried several strategies to derail the Williams Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline (ASP) project. One of stunts they have pulled, in league with a radical Big Green group, is to stick a few wooden park benches in the middle of a corn field that they own (leased to a local farmer), and call it a “chapel” (see 
Shale Insight 2017 is now in the books. Another year, another great show. MDN editor Jim Willis is back in the office, chained to his computer. Next week Jim will share notes he took at the conference. For now, below are highlights from other news source from Day Two of the event. Unfortunately Jim had to leave before the closing keynote, given by former Trump White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. But others were there to hear what Spicer had to say. Day Two began with a focus on the Shell ethane cracker. Members of the Shell team were on hand to describe how this critical project affects the region, and where it fits in the Marcellus/Utica landscape. One of the Shell team members said the skyline at the Beaver County site will change dramatically over the next 12 months as the buildings housing the various components are built. It was a fascinating talk with lots of information. Below is a roundup from Day Two…
This story makes us angry–not at Maine Gov. Paul LePage, but at the obtuse governors and officials in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and (yes) New York. For years LePage, a Republican, has advocated for more natural gas pipelines to his state and to the entire New England region. Back in 2014 all of New England’s governors were on board with supporting Kinder Morgan’s Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline extension of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline (see 
This one is follow the bouncing ball. In February 2017 Permian-based oilfield service company Light Tower Rentals merged with Globe Energy Services and became GlobeLTR Energy Inc., which is one of the portfolio companies of Clearlake Capital Group. Clearfield is the money and likely offers “advice” (i.e. directives) on how to run the business. After all, it’s their money on the line. Earlier this week GlobeLRT Energy changed names again, and has become Gravity Oilfield Services. It is a “comprehensive rebranding effort,” according to the announcement. Why do we care? Because Gravity nee GlobeLRT nee Globe Energy has operations in the Marcellus/Utica region. In fact, in addition to the mighty Permian oil play, they also operate in the Eagle Ford Shale, SCOOP/STACK, Williston Basin, DJ Basin, Marcellus Shale and Haynesville Shale–among others. Sometimes you need a score card to keep track of who does what and what they call themselves…
The greater the risk, the greater the reward. You’ve heard that bromide multiple times in your life. And for good reason–it’s true. Our entire stock and financial markets are based on that truism. Gas traders, those who trade futures contracts for natural gas, are like any other traders–they big price swings. It is when the price of the underlying commodity swings that (i.e. when risk rises) that traders make the most money. Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the price of natural gas hasn’t really swung much at all over the past few years–at least at the Henry Hub, which is where most contracts are pegged. Why? We have a “glut” of natural gas. As soon as the price creeps up a bit, more gas floods the market. But as we’ve written many times in the past, there isn’t just “one price” when it comes to natural gas. There are hundreds of prices–gas is traded at hundreds of different trading points along major pipelines across North America. While the price of gas is steady and doesn’t change much (i.e. no real opportunity to profit from risk) at Henry Hub, such is not the case at all trading hubs. Particularly in the Marcellus/Utica. In our region, prices have been much lower than the Henry Hub–and much more volatile. Wider swings up and down. Now that Rover is flowing, prices are going up in some areas of our region. Other pipelines have a similar effect. So gas traders are beginning to leave contracts pegged to Henry Hub behind and trying their hand at contracts pegged at other trading hubs–some in our region, some in other regions. Bloomberg gives us the low down on a trend that has the power to affect the price of natural gas across the country–particularly in our region…
One of the big announcements coming from Shale Insight 2017 on the first day was the release of a new study tag-team researched by Chevron Appalachia and People’s Natural Gas. As People’s CEO Morgan O’Brien explained it–everyone assumes “someone else” has a master plan, a statewide strategy for how to develop this phenomenal resource. But when you look around you come to the realization that no one has such a plan. So Chevron Appalachia CEO Stacey Olson approached People’s CEO O’Brien and asked for help to research and author a study that would provide such a plan–a plan to unlock what they believe is a $60 BILLION opportunity for Pennsylvania that will create 100,000 new jobs statewide. The result is a study called “Forge the Future: Pennsylvania’s Path To An Advanced, Energy-Enabled Economy” (full copy below), released yesterday. We now have, according to Chevron’s Olson and People’s O’Brien, the road map. What we need is for people in the industry to step up and seize the day and take action to create that amazing future…
Last week MDN brought you the news that Ohio EPA’s director, Craig Butler, has kind of tipped over into the deep end with his rantings and ravings about Rover Pipeline (see 
Back in March MDN told you about an Ohio landowner with an old oil and gas lease where a conventional (vertical only) well was drilled–and still producing–suing the energy company, telling the company to either explore the shale layer, or severe the lease rights to shale so the landowner can lease it to someone who will go after the shale (see 
In early September, a Broome County, NY judge ruled that the Town of Fenton (Binghamton area) Planning Board did not take a hard enough look at environmental and traffic issues related to their approval of NG Advantage’s plan to construct a facility in the town to compress and load natural gas onto tractor trailers for delivery to regional customers who desperately need the gas–what is called a “virtual pipeline” (see 
Shale Support Holdings, which says it is a leading provider of frac sand and logistical solutions to the oil and gas proppant market (headquartered in Texas, with an operations center in Mississippi), is stepping up its presence in the Marcellus/Utica region with a partnership with Tidewater Logistics. The partnership will increase Shale Support’s operations in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Because Shale Support can ship sand direct from Mississippi, which is much closer than most other alternatives, the price for frac sand will be cheaper for customers. Here’s the good news about a new partnership benefiting Marcellus/Utica drillers…