Pipelines

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    FANG Protesters Strike RI Compressor Station Again, 8 Arrested

    FANG logoJust like a bad case of gout that keeps returning, or perhaps more relevantly like a flareup of herpes, radical protesters keep using illegal actions to oppose the expansion of a compressor station in Rhode Island–Spectra Energy’s Burrillville, RI compressor station. They used illegal actions in August (see FANG Protesters Chain Themselves to RI Compressor Station Gate). They did it again in September (see FANG Protesters Strike RI Compressor Station Again, 3 Arrested). And they did it yet again this past weekend. This time eight protesters were arrested, including a nun who has forsaken her first love, Jesus, and replaced Him with worship of Mother Earth. The protesters illegally trespassed on Spectra’s property and were arrested and removed. Once again, the protest was organized by the threatening-sounding group that calls itself FANG (yes, that is their logo, not something we made up)…
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    PennEast: The Long, Careful, Deliberate Road to Pipeline Approval

    The latest theme/meme being pedaled by groups like THE Delaware Riverkeeper (Maya van Rossum) and other anti-fossil fuel groups is that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is just a big ole rubber stamp for Big Oil and Big Gas. FERC, they say, never met a pipeline project they didn’t approve. FERC is in the back pocket of the fossil fuel industry. Yada yada yada. Some of the crazier of the crazies took to attending open FERC meetings in Washington, DC and disrupting those meetings (see FERC Clears the Room at DC HQ After Riff Raff Start Mouthing Off). Once they were banned from attending, they began to illegally block entrance to the building (see 24 Anti-Drilling Protesters Arrested by Homeland Security in DC). FERC has been made a kindergartenish bogyman by those who oppose pipelines. To counter some of the nonsense pedaled by these groups (and their willing accomplices in the media), PennEast Pipeline recently published an article to set the record straight. FERC doesn’t simply rubber stamp a pipeline application like PennEast’s–a pipeline proposed to run from Wilkes-Barre, PA to Trenton, NJ. PennEast faces a “gauntlet of approvals”–including 11 federal, state and local agencies that must approve thousands of pages of plans, much of it stringent safety requirements. Approving a pipeline is an intense, detailed, and LONG process in which no stone is left unturned. There is no rubber stamp except in the childish minds of irrational anti-fossil fuelers…
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    Top 20 NatGas Pipelines in 2015 – Ranked by Traded Volume

    The amazing thing about this wonderful industry we’re in–the fossil fuel energy industry–is that you learn something new every day. Like there’s a service called the Capacity Center (CapacityCenter.com) that tracks flows of physical natural gas in every interstate pipeline in the U.S. Each year (for the eighth year running) the Capacity Center issues a report detailing the Top 20 Traders (buyers and sellers) of natural gas along those pipelines, and the Top 20 Pipelines by volume of natural gas flowing through the pipeline. We’re intrigued–particularly by the Top 20 pipelines, because a number of them operate in the Marcellus/Utica region. Below is the full Capacity Center Top 20 Capacity Traders & Top 20 Pipelines Report for 2015. If you’re like us, you’ll dig it too…
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    Kinder Morgan Steps Up Marcellus/Utica Investment with NGPL Buyout

    On Monday the largest pipeline company in the United States, Kinder Morgan, and their partner Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, announced a deal to buy out a third partner in the Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (NGPL). When the deal is done, both Kinder Morgan and Brookfield will each own 50% of NGPL, although Kinder is the pipeline operator. NGPL, in case you haven’t heard of it, is a huge interstate pipeline system located in the Midwest and southwest. (See a copy of Kinder Morgan’s pipeline systems map below. The dark green lines represent NGPL.) So why is the NGPL buyout in the Midwest/southwest a Marcellus/Utica story? Because NGPL is currently building an expansion in the Chicago area, appropriately called the Chicago Market Expansion Project. That expansion will carry gas coming into the NGPL pipeline where it intersects with the Rockies Express (REX) pipeline in in Moultrie County, Illinois northward into the Chicago area. REX recently reversed its flow and now carries Marcellus/Utica gas to Moultrie—meaning more Marcellus/Utica gas will be flowing to the Chicago area starting in 2016 when the Expansion Project is put into service (see 1.8 Bcf/d of Marcellus/Utica Gas Heads West on REX Starting Aug 1). A little over two months ago Kinder Morgan announced they would reverse the flow for part of NGPL and begin sending northeast gas south, to the Gulf Coast (see Marcellus/Utica Gas Heading to TX LNG Export Plant…in 2018), meaning gas arriving at Moultrie will not only go north, it eventually will go south too. So the NGPL purchase is very much about the Marcellus/Utica…
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    Shale Gas Faces Double Trouble: Low Prices & Pipeline Opposition

    According to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), the natural gas industry faces a double “new normal” that hobbles the industry: (1) low prices for natural gas for the foreseeable future, and (2) public opposition to pipeline expansion, especially in New England. Here’s what IEEFA’s executive director, Sandy Buchanan, says about this double threat to our beloved industry…
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    Jimmy Stewart Makes the Case for NEXUS Gas Pipeline in Ohio

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    Jimmy Stewart, president OGA

    Jimmy Stewart (no, not that one, another one!) is the former Majority Leader of the Ohio Senate. After his days in the Senate, Stewart joined the Ohio Gas Association as its President. Perhaps feeling the need to push back against the steady drumbeat of negativity coming from anti-frackers who also oppose pipelines in the Buckeye State, Stewart wrote a powerful guest column for the Cleveland Plain Dealer to make the case for major new natural gas pipelines in general, and to make the case for Spectra Energy’s NEXUS Gas Transmission pipeline in particular. Here is that powerful column…
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    Natural Gas is Killing City Trees! Tree Whisperer Tells All

    Here’s one more reason to dump evil, nasty, rotten fossil fuels–like natural gas. It kills trees. Yes, methane is a TREE KILLER. Who knew? In yet another laughable “all fossil fuels are evil” meme from the usual suspects at the Democrat house organ called StateImpact Pennsylvania, we get the latest anti-fossil fuel story about how methane leaks in cities are killing poor, defenseless trees that can’t stand up to that nasty bully, fugitive methane. Seems there’s a good business to be had being a tree whisperer…
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    Susan Sarandon Supports Anti-Pipeline Movement in Massachusetts

    What do Hollywood celebrities do to boost a sagging career? Celebrities who were once “A” list but have sunk to “B” and “C” list status? Celebrities like Mark Ruffalo and Susan Sarandon found notoriety in supporting the anti-fracking movement. But the problem with “success” when it comes to anti-fracking (a la New York’s ban), is that once you’ve won, what do you do then? You see, antis like Ruffalo and Sarandon always need another bogyman–another “cause” to inject (a) notoriety, and (b) meaning into their otherwise meaningless lives. Like a junkie who needs another fix, these people need to be in the news, their face and name plastered everywhere, or they don’t think anyone “loves” them anymore. It’s a shame what depths they sink to, really. At least Sarandon has talent–Ruffalo has no talent. Sarandon (or more properly, her agent) has (surprise!) found a new cause to promote–time to prop up that sagging career. Sarandon has thrown in her lot with the crazies opposing the Kinder Morgan’s Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline project–the massive $5 billion expansion of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline system from Pennsylvania into New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and back into Massachusetts where it will end near Boston. Sarandon recently issued a statement through the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust, whose director, Leigh Youngblood, has been at the forefront of opposing any new pipelines in the Bay State…
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    ScottMadden Report: Getting Marcellus/Utica Gas to Market

    ScottMadden, Inc., a top energy consulting firm, recently released the latest edition of their twice-per-year report called The Energy Industry Update. The current report, titled “Strange Brew: Adapting to Changing Fundamentals” (full copy below), offers insights into major events and emerging trends in the energy industry. This particular edition takes a close look at the natural gas industry–in particular how ever-increasing gas resources can find adequate infrastructure to make their way to market. We really like this report, for a couple of reasons. First, it gives you the wider context. Natural gas (and oil) doesn’t exist on its own. It is part of a complex tapestry of energy options and needs to be viewed that way. This report helps contextualize natural gas–helps you see the natgas puzzle piece in the larger energy puzzle. Second, we like the deep dive they do on natural gas. Not so long ago the estimates were that with shale gas in the U.S.–particularly in the Marcellus/Utica–we have a “100 year supply” of natural gas. Now? That number has risen to 140 years of supply. And it keeps growing. The report looks at rig counts and well productivity, pipelines that are (or will) move gas from the northeast to other markets, regulations and more. Take time to read it!…
    Read More “ScottMadden Report: Getting Marcellus/Utica Gas to Market”

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    Will Pilgrim Pipeline be Allowed to Settle in the NY World?

    Pilgrim Pipeline Holdings is 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 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. Pilgrim (how apropos this announcement comes at Thanksgiving) has just filed an official application with the Thruway Authority. Their plan is to lay 79% of the pipeline within the Thruway right of way. No, technically this is not a Marcellus/Utica story–although some of the crude they plan to flow from Albany to NJ refineries may indeed come from the Marcellus/Utica. It’s a pipeline for fossil fuels and that will surely bring the crazies right out of the woodwork, which is why we bring you this story…
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    Spectra Energy Files Formal FERC Application for NEXUS Pipeline

    Pop the cork on the champagne bottle! Last Friday Spectra Energy and its partners filed their full, formal application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to get the federal agency’s approval for the NEXUS Gas Transmission pipeline project. The NEXUS is a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. It is a critically needed pipeline to move Utica and Marcellus Shale gas from an over-saturated market in the northeast to markets in the Midwest and Canada. Below is the official good news press release from Spectra Energy announcing the filing…
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    Kinder Morgan Files Formal FERC Application for NED Pipeline

    Friday was a big day for pipelines in the Marcellus/Utica. Spectra Energy filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build the NEXUS Gas Transmission pipeline (see our companion story today). In addition, Kinder Morgan filed their formal application with FERC to build the massive $5 billion expansion of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline system from Pennsylvania into New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and back into Massachusetts where it will end near Boston–called the Northeast Energy Direct (NED) project. All pipeline projects face irrational opposition, but the NED project faces some of the fiercest opposition, including an anti-fossil fuel crusade against NED by the Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey (see Anti-Drilling MA Attorney General: We Don’t Need No Pipelines). The battle is about to reach fevered pitch now that Kinder Morgan has filed the official application…
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    OH Grange Issues New Study, Supports NEXUS & Rover Pipelines

    The people who are most affected by pipelines being built across their property are farmers–that’s a fact. Farmers often have questions and concerns when a new pipeline project is proposed that will cross their land, rightfully so. They’re cautious, they’re careful, they have a vested interest in preserving their land. So it’s big news that the Ohio State Grange, part of the nation’s oldest national agricultural advocacy group, has endorsed both the Rover and NEXUS pipelines in the Buckeye State. Energy Transfer’s Rover is a big, $4.2 billion, 711-mile new pipeline project from the Midwest Hub near Defiance, OH to Livingston County, MI, connecting with the Vector pipeline. Spectra Energy’s NEXUS Gas Transmission pipeline project is a $2 billion pipeline that will carry Utica/Marcellus gas through OH, MI, and eventually connect to the Dawn Energy Hub in Canada. The Grange’s support of these two projects is a big deal. As part of their announcement, the Ohio Grange released a new report titled, “Natural Gas Pipeline Infrastructure and Its Impact on Michigan and Ohio Agriculture” (full copy below) which finds, among other things, that there is no SAFER way to transport natural gas than by underground pipeline…
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    Lebanon County Antis Want Public (Spectacle) Mtg or No Mtg at All

    The demands of anti-drillers in Lebanon County, PA are illustrative of their true motivations. Two different anti groups–Lebanon Pipeline Awareness and Concerned Citizens of Lebanon County–are demanding Lebanon County commissioners have an open public meeting with two pipeline companies. The two pipeline companies are Williams (Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline) and Sunoco Logistics Partners (Mariner East 1 & 2 pipelines). If the meeting is not open and public, so these nutters can pummel representatives of the companies in public and have it broadcast everywhere–they want no meeting at all. Williams and Sunoco had agreed to non-public meetings that INCLUDE members of these two groups–to answer their questions. But the pipeline companies, and the county commissioners, don’t want a circus. That means no cameras/media, and the meeting is not open so it can be packed by large numbers of antis. The companies are willing to sit down and talk like adults and answer questions and address concerns–like adults. But that’s not what Lebanon Pipeline Awareness nor Concerned Citizens of Lebanon County really want. They want to behave like petulant children throwing a temper tantrum for everyone to witness. Evidence: Instead of taking the private meeting, they (the antis) want no meeting at all…
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    Noble Energy Cancels Midstream IPO, Couldn’t Raise $237M

    That didn’t take long. Last week driller Noble Energy launched an initial public offering (IPO) for a new midstream subsidiary. They hoped to raise $237-$262 million by offering 12.5 million shares at $19-$21 per share (actually “units”). We didn’t bother reporting it at the time because the new midstream company would own and operate a pipeline system in the DJ (Denver-Julesburg) Basin in Colorado. However, what makes the IPO news now for the entire shale industry at large, including the Marcellus/Utica, is that the company has stumbled–pulling the IPO because of lack of interest/low offers for units, which may portend a similar fate for other midstream IPOs in other shale plays…
    Read More “Noble Energy Cancels Midstream IPO, Couldn’t Raise $237M”

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    Herding Cats: DEP Sec. Quigley Unhappy with Pipeline Task Force

    The thin-skinned Secretary of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), John Quigley, showed his irritation yesterday with his own hand-picked 48 members of the Pipeline Infrastructure Task Force (see PA Gov Wolf Packs Pipeline Task Force with His Own Minions). Last week Quigley released a 355-page draft report supposedly compiled by the Task Force that will govern how rural gathering pipelines will be regulated (see PA Gathering Pipeline Draft “Recommendations” from Wolf Task Force). However, it seems the Task Force may not have authored the document after all. It appears to us that Quigley wants Task Force members to rubber stamp *his* proposed recommendations (i.e. regulations). At yesterday’s meeting, some Task Force members took issue with portions of the draft document, which had Mr. Quigley in a grumpy mood. Adding to Quigley’s grumpy mood was THE Delaware Riverkeeper herself, Maya van Rossum, who had to be escorted out of the meeting by Capitol police…
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