Pipelines

Boardwalk Pipeline Partners | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

626 Mmcf/d of Northeast Shale Gas Begins Flowing to Gulf Today
June 1, 2016June 1, 2016

Ohio-Louisiana Access Project map – click for larger version

Fantastic news! More Marcellus and Utica Shale gas will begin flowing to the Gulf Coast, beginning today. Some of that gas will go to the Sabine Pass LNG (liquefied natural gas) export facility owned by Cheniere Energy–the first such facility to (recently) begin exporting natural gas to other countries. In October 2014 Boardwalk Pipeline Partners filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reverse the flow on a 690-mile segment of their Texas Gas Transmission pipeline to begin carrying Marcellus and Utica Shale gas from the northeast to the south (see Texas Gas Seeks to Reverse Flow of Pipeline from OH to LA). In September 2015 FERC approved the project, called the Ohio-Louisiana Access Project (see FERC Approves Important Utica-to-Gulf Coast Pipeline Reversal). Today the pipeline reverses and Sabine Pass is the foundation shipper–beginning to accept 300 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d) of yummy and wholesome Marcellus and Utica Shale gas…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | PennEast Pipeline | Pipelines

NJ Enviro Groups Continue Attacks on Safe, Needed PennEast Pipe
May 31, 2016May 31, 2016

Credit: Wikipedia

Grasping at straws is the closest analogy we can think of to describe the latest desperate attempt by environmental groups in New Jersey to stop the PennEast Pipeline from getting built. Lawyers for the New Jersey Conservation Foundation and the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association have written to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) asking FERC to suspend its review of the PennEast Pipeline application. Why? Because, they say, PennEast hasn’t provided data requested by FERC and several state agencies. Which is, of course, a joke. PennEast has provided everything requested. This is yet another smokescreen, a delay tactic by people who irrationally hate all fossil fuels…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Spectra Energy

Boston “Religious” Leaders Arrested for Blocking Pipeline Work
May 26, 2016May 26, 2016

Last July MDN told you about a group of so-called religious leaders from the Boston area who have taken to worshiping Mother Earth (the creation) instead of worshiping the Creator (see Group of Bostonians Use Religion to Protest 5-Mile Natgas Pipeline). We won’t belabor the point we’ve made so often, that these people are hypocrites in the extreme by protesting “fossil fuels” when their very existence is dependent on fossil fuels. This group of so-called religious leaders are against a 5-mile natural gas pipeline that will deliver more cheap, abundant, clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas to local residents in the Boston area. Their sole objection to the pipeline is that natural gas is a fossil fuel, and they object to burning fossil fuels based on twisted religious grounds (even though they arrive at protest events in vehicles powered by fossil fuels). Fine. Let them spout off and make jerks of themselves. We have a First Amendment that allows them to do just that. But spouting off is not enough for this crew. They’ve taken to breaking the law. A group of these misguided “religious leaders” were arrested yesterday because they blocked a construction site for the pipeline, shutting down construction and costing Spectra Energy, the company building it, a load of money. Perhaps the parishioners at the “churches” (and synagogues and mosques) led by these “leaders” will enjoy seeing their offering money go to fund damages?…
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Economic Impact | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pipelines | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WVU Researcher Says Marcellus/Utica Needs an Ethane Storage Hub
May 24, 2016May 24, 2016

Forget about a cracker plant in West Virginia. Well, not really–just put it on the back burner for the moment. A researcher from West Virginia University says what the Mountain State and indeed all of Appalachia really needs is ethane storage. Specifically, an ethane storage hub. According to Brian Anderson, director of West Virginia University’s Energy Institute, without ethane storage (and pipelines) the Marcellus/Utica region risks seeing its abundant ethane leave the area, mostly heading to the Gulf Coast. Why is that bad? Because if we can keep ethane in the area, we will attract manufacturers to the region who want to use the results of that ethane–ethylene, the raw material in plastics. Our region can realize a bonanza in manufacturing jobs and investments–if we can store and use the ethane here, at home…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lebanon County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Transco | Williams

Pipes Stacked & Ready to Go in Lebanon, PA for Atlantic Sunrise
May 24, 2016May 24, 2016

Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline map – click for larger version

Anti-drillers in Lebanon County, PA–virulently opposed to any new pipeline construction in the county–have their noses bent out of joint. Williams and their Transco pipeline have had the temerity to stack a bunch of pipe they intend to use when construction begins. This can’t stand!! It means (gasp) construction will soon begin. The pretend bubble these kooks live in has just been burst and they frankly don’t know how to handle it. They are “surprised and dismayed” by seeing the stacked pipes. It’s kind of amusing…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide NY | Williams

NY AG’s Allegation of Tree Cutting by Constitution Pipe a Fraud
May 23, 2016May 23, 2016

NY’s arrogant AG – Eric Schneiderman

The Attorney General of New York State, Eric Schneiderman, has been caught in a lie and he’s furiously backpedaling, trying to cover it up. On May 13 Schneiderman tried to pull a fast one by filing a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requesting FERC investigate the Constitution Pipeline for illegal felling of trees along the pipeline’s path in New York State (see NY Attorney General Asks FERC to Investigate Constitution Pipe). Guess what. Tree’s WERE cut along the path–but not by the Constitution. Landowners who wanted to realize the most money from trees that will eventually be cut were cutting the trees ON THEIR OWN, without the help, consent, assistance, nor any form of aide from the Constitution. Schneiderman’s pathetic response? The Constitution should have known those stupid farmers would cut the trees and should have done something to stop it. What breathtaking arrogance…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Spectra Energy | Statewide NY

NY’s 2 Radical Senators Call for Halt in Building Algonquin Pipeline
May 23, 2016May 23, 2016

New York’s Senators – Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer

Spectra Energy’s Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) pipeline project is an $876 million expansion of the existing Algonquin pipeline system that will carry 342 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to New England states that badly need the gas. On March 3, 2015 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued their final approval for the project, allowing it to go forward. Construction began last year and continues now, with a target in-service date later this year. New York’s radical, anti-drilling governor, Andy Cuomo, tried to stop the Algonquin using the flimsy excuse that some of the drilling for the pipeline would happen a half mile from a nuclear power plant–a plant that Cuomo wants to shut down anyway (see Gov. Cuomo Asks FERC to Halt Algonquin Pipeline Near Nuke Plant). A few weeks after Cuomo requested FERC shut it down, they told him “no” (see FERC Denies NY Request to Stop Work on Pipeline Near Nuke Plant). So, in good government/radical environmentalist collusion fashion, several Big Green groups filed an appeal with the liberal District of Columbia Court of Appeals to try and stop it (see Radical Enviro Groups File Appeal to Stop AIM Pipeline in NY/CT). Now, New York State’s two radically leftist Democrat Senators, Chuck “the schmuck” Schumer and Kirsten “who dat?” Gillibrand (the Senator nobody knows about and nobody cares about) have come down on the side of (surprise!) the radical kooks who want to stop the pipeline…
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Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

List of 17 Northeast Pipeline Projects – Status & Update
May 23, 2016May 23, 2016

Bloomberg analysts do a deep dive into pipeline projects in the northeast in a recent article. The article contains an update on 17 planned pipeline projects in the northeast (see the full list detailing each project below). The reporter interviews Marty Durbin, executive director of market development at the American Petroleum Institute (API), and MDN friend Scott Kurkoski, chair of the energy group at the Binghamton law firm Levene, Gouldin & Thompson. Here’s what they have to say about the future of pipeline projects in New York State…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Lebanon County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation

Lebanon Cnty Commissioners Forwarding Anti’s 1K-Page Tome to FERC
May 20, 2016May 20, 2016

We wonder if the anti-pipeline/anti-fossil fuel zealots in Lebanon County, PA are trying to kill members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) by boring them to death. The local antis–a small yet vociferous group of nattering nabobs–have hounded the Lebanon County Board of Commissioners into sending along a 1,000-page tome to FERC listing their concerns with two pipeline projects. Along with the bore-you-to-death document, the Commissioners have included a letter requesting FERC extend the comment period on the Atlantic Sunrise Project by an extra 30 days. Which sounds reasonable–except at the end of that 30 days the antis will ask for another extension, then another, and another. That’s the strategy. If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with, well, you know what…
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Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | TC Energy/TransCanada

TransCanada’s July 1 Merger with Columbia Pipeline Advances
May 19, 2016May 19, 2016

In March MDN reported that Canadian midstream giant TransCanada wants a bigger piece of the Marcellus/Utica pipeline pie and has decided to buy Columbia Pipeline Group for $10 billion (see TransCanada Makes Play to Buy Columbia Pipeline for $10B). Columbia Pipeline shareholders are due to vote on the deal in June (see Columbia Pipeline Shareholders to Vote on TransCanada Deal June 22). There are numerous regulatory hoops to jump through before the merger/purchase becomes official. TransCanada has announced another such hoop has been successfully jumped through. On Tuesday, TransCanada announced the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Anti-Trust Improvements Act (HSR Act) was terminated early by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. That means the FTC has taken a look and doesn’t object…
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Albany County | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Regulation

Albany Common Council Votes to Oppose Pilgrim’s (Pipeline) Progress
May 19, 2016May 19, 2016

Pilgrim Pipeline – click map for larger version

Last November, MDN told you about Pilgrim Pipeline Holdings, developing an East Coast pipeline to carry refined petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, heating oil, and jet and aviation fuel northbound from Linden, New Jersey to Albany, New York (178 miles). In addition, a second Pilgrim pipeline will carry crude oil from Albany south to NJ and other locations. Two pipelines, side by side, liquids flowing through them in different directions (see Will Pilgrim Pipeline be Allowed to Settle in the NY World?). In April we told you about a strategy by New York anti-fossil fuel freakers to stop Pilgrim’s progress by using local town bans (see NY Antis Attempt to Stop Pilgrim Pipelines with Local Bans). Although it’s not a full-blown ban, the liberal Democrats who infest Albany, NY’s City Common Council voted on Monday night to approve a non-binding (i.e. toothless) resolution voicing their irrational opposition to the Pilgrim Pipeline project. Why? Because they view it as “an environmental risk” and a “public health hazard.” In other words, they have no reason why, other than to score political points with their base of crazy Democrat voters…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Pipelines | Statewide NY | Williams

Williams Sues NY Over Constitution Pipe – DEC May Lose Authority
May 17, 2016May 22, 2016

Three cheers for Williams. Hip hip horray! Williams announced yesterday a two-pronged legal challenge against New York State and its decision to deny stream crossing permits for the federally-approved Constitution Pipeline project (see NY Gov. Cuomo Refuses to Grant Permits for Constitution Pipeline). The first prong is a lawsuit filed in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit–challenging the decision itself as “arbitrary and capricious.” The second prong is a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York–seeking recognition by the court that New York doesn’t even have jurisdiction over the project. It is this second case that should have Cuomo, the DEC and the antis VERY worried. If the case goes against them, it means that New York will forever be cut out of decision-making with regard to any FERC-approved projects. Properly so. NY has shown itself to be motivated by politics and not by science and certainly not by common sense. It’s time to remove NY from the equation. Staffers at the state Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) feared this might happen and counseled Cuomo to approve the Constitution project–sage advice he ignored…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide NY | Williams

NY Attorney General Asks FERC to Investigate Constitution Pipe
May 17, 2016May 17, 2016

NY AG Eric Scheniderman

Apparently the lawless attorney general of New York State, Eric Schneiderman, suspected Williams would sue the state over the Constitution Pipeline (see today’s lead story). In anticipation of such a lawsuit, last Friday Schneiderman sought to provide the corrupt Gov. Cuomo and his corrupt Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) with political cover by demanding a federal investigation into the Constitution Pipeline. Schneiderman petitioned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) accusing Williams of (gasp) cutting down some trees along the pipeline route before New York’s dictatorial governor granted his “Mother, May I?” permission to do so. The petition/request is a not-so-transparent attempt to smear the Constitution project and deflect attention away from the lawless way in which the state has acted in not allowing this federally-approved project from advancing. In this case the feds trump the state–and that very issue will now play out in court…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Williams

Williams Announces Open Season for Northeast Supply Enhancement
May 17, 2016May 17, 2016

Transco Northeast Supply Enhanacement Project map – click for larger version

Last week MDN brought you the news that Williams has pre-filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the the Northeast Supply Enhancement project–a project to expand the Transco pipeline to increase pipeline capacity and flows heading into northeastern markets (see Williams Pre-Files with FERC to Expand Tranco Pipeline in PA, NY). Yesterday Williams announced an official, “binding” open season for the project–to sign customers to long-term contracts to use the expanded capacity…
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Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

List of 5 Pipeline Projects in Marcellus/Utica Delayed or Canceled
May 17, 2016May 17, 2016

The Constitution Pipleine from northeastern Pennsylvania into east-central New York State is not the only pipeline project to get delayed. It is one of five highly important projects for drillers in the Marcellus/Utica region that are either delayed–or even canceled. What are the other four projects? Read on…
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Allegheny County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Supply Chain

New Pipeline Safety Company Launches in Pittsburgh
May 17, 2016May 17, 2016

Dan Garcia

We don’t run every “hey we have new business starting up to service the oil and gas industry” story that’s sent our way. But we do sometimes–especially those that catch our eye and tickle our fancy. Pipeline Compliance Group is one such startup. Dan Garcia, a pipeline safety attorney (we didn’t know there were such things) has started up a new consulting company in Pittsburgh to provide pipeline safety consulting to local governments, regulators and even pipeline operators. We took a look at the website (www.pipelinecgllc.com) and liked what we saw–including the fact that Mr. Garcia is a veteran…
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