Pipelines

Chester County | Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Northampton County | Pennsylvania | Pike County | Pipelines | Regulation

FERC Approves Columbia East Side Project in SE PA
December 22, 2014December 22, 2014

In March 2013, Columbia Gas Transmission, a subsidiary of Nisource, applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to add then-16 miles (now 19 miles) of new pipeline in southeastern PA and NJ to help fire a natural gas-fired electricity generating plant with cheap Marcellus Shale gas (see Columbia’s SE PA Pipeline Project Includes Compressor Upgrade). The project, called the East Side Expansion, faced some stiff opposition–especially with upgrades to a compressor station in Forks Township, Northampton County (see Columbia Hits Resistance to Compressor Upgrade in SE PA). Last Friday, Columbia announced FERC has approved the project and construction will now begin…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Transco | Williams

FERC Approves Williams Leidy Southeast Project in PA/NJ
December 22, 2014December 22, 2014

Since January 2013, Williams has been working on a project called Leidy Southeast that will create several new loops in northeast Pennsylvania and in New Jersey (including new compressor stations) to bump up the capacity of the Williams Transco interstate gas pipeline (see Williams Takes Next Step with Transco Leidy Pipeline Expansion). In August, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said there would be no significant impacts to the environment, a good sign that the project would get the green light (see FERC Says “No Significant Impact” from Leidy Southeast Pipeline). The green light came last Thursday when FERC gave final approval for the project…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Crime | Enbridge | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

FDS? Michigan Man Tries to Stop Pipeline by Crawling Inside It
December 19, 2014December 19, 2014

Fracking Derangement Syndrome (FDS) is a dangerous disease. Most often it attacks those who grew up watching Captain Planet on Saturday mornings (one of the risk factors). FDS creates all sorts of weird behaviors in its victims. The disease recently struck again–this time infecting a 36 year-old Michigan man. The disease manifested by causing the man (the Green candidate for the U.S. Senate in Michigan) to crawl inside of a pipeline under construction by Enbridge and stay there for 10 hours, creating a danger to himself and those around him…
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Energy Services | EnLink Midstream | Industrywide Issues | NGLs | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH

EnLink Launches 1 Month Open Season for ORV Condensate Pipeline
December 18, 2014December 18, 2014

In August, MDN told you about EnLink Midstream’s newly planned condensate pipeline. The Ohio River Valley (ORV) Pipeline, as it’s called, will connect to EnLink’s existing 200-mile pipeline in eastern Ohio and West Virginia, providing drillers in the region access to markets through EnLink’s Bells Run barge facility and Black Run rail terminal (see EnLink Midstream Announces New Condensate Pipeline in ORV). The OVR Pipeline, expected to be completed in the second half of 2015, will have an initial capacity of approximately 50,000 barrels per day (bpd). Yesterday EnLink announced a binding open season for the pipeline–the time when drillers and other customers can sign up to reserve capacity on the new pipeline…
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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Dominion Fined $55K for Run-off in WV Creeks
December 17, 2014December 17, 2014

Dominion Transmission has agreed to pay $55,470 in fines for violating the West Virginia Water Pollution Control Act. The fines are the result of WV Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) investigations that started in November of 2012. The DEP investigated “slips” or slopes restored after Dominion dug trenches to lay pipeline. The slopes were not restored properly and sediment and erosion ended up in area creeks. Dominion is required to fix the creeks and pay the fine…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Senators to Re-Introduce Impact Fee Bill for Pipelines
December 17, 2014December 17, 2014

Two Philadelphia-area state senators, John Rafferty (Republican from Collegeville), and Andrew Dinniman (Democcrat from West Chester), will introduce legislation in January that would extend the Act 13 impact fee to include newly built gathering and transmission pipelines in the state. The new fee/tax would be based on the amount of acreage used by the pipeline, which includes the entire right-of-way on either side of the pipeline. According to the senators, most of the revenue generated would stay with the local counties and towns where the pipeline is located, in keeping with the intent of an impact fee. The industry is pushing back, saying pipelines have a minimal impact…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Summit Midstream | Utica Shale | XTO

XTO Gets Serious in OH Utica, Hires Summit for Gathering System
December 16, 2014December 16, 2014

XTO Energy, wholly-owned subsidiary of ExxonMobil, has an active drilling program in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region. But when was the last time you heard anything about new wells or activity by XTO? The company largely stays off the radar. According to MDN’s Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook, the company gets somewhere between 20-25 new permits every four months to drill in the PA Marcellus. So far this year, XTO has received 11 and 17 permits (Jan-Apr and May-Aug respectively) for new wells in the Ohio Utica Shale, which is the first appreciable drilling done by the company in the Utica. With Utica drilling under way, it must be time to build pipelines to connect the wells–and right on cue, we have an announcement from Summit Midstream Partners that they’ve signed a contract with XTO to build a gathering pipeline network…
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Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH

ET Rover Pipeline’s 800-Mile Journey Begins with FERC Filing
December 15, 2014December 15, 2014

Energy Transfer Partners plans to build an 800-mile, $4.4 billion pipeline that will connect the Marcellus and Utica Shale region to Canada (see ET Rover Pipeline Fully Subscribed, Project Scope Revised Up). The pipeline will connect Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio and cross the Buckeye State going northwest before entering Michigan and eventually taking a dog-leg into Ontario (see the map embedded below). These kinds of projects take multiple years to complete–with many steps. On Friday, ET filed their draft Resource Reports of environmental survey data with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). It’s one of the first steps on an 800-mile journey…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Madison County | New York | Pipelines

The 2 Types of Opponents to a NY Compressor Plant
December 12, 2014December 12, 2014

In June 2014 Dominion filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to, among other things, build two new compressor stations in upstate New York: one in Chemung County, the other in Madison County–both along an existing pipeline. It’s part of Dominion’s New Market project (see Dominion’s NY Compressor Plants to Move More Marcellus Gas). Some residents in Madison County are opposed to the new 10,880 horsepower compressor that would be built near some homes. More than 150 residents spoke out against it at hearings held by FERC this year (public comments closed on Dec. 5). What struck us, in a recent story about opposition to the plant, is the dichotomy that exists among those who oppose it…
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CNG/LNG | Energy Services | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

More Marcellus Gas Going to Cheniere LNG Export Facility in TX?
December 12, 2014December 12, 2014

Earlier this week Kinder Morgan signed a new 15-year agreement with Cheniere to supply Cheniere’s Sabin Pass LNG export facility near Corpus Christi, Texas. One of the pipelines that will deliver the gas is Kinder’s Tennesses Gas Pipeline. Although the press release doesn’t say so, we believe at least some of the gas that Kinder will provide to Cheniere via the TGP will be Marcellus Shale gas…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | M&A | New York | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regency Energy Partners | Statewide NY | Statewide PA | Talisman Energy

Talisman Considers Sale of Marcellus Midstream Assets to Regency
December 10, 2014December 10, 2014

Three weeks ago Talisman was rumored to be near a deal to sell its New York/Pennsylvania pipeline system to Regency Energy Partners. Talisman owns some 435 miles of gathering and transmission pipelines in NY/PA. However, the deal, which was supposedly imminent and rumored to be worth $1 billion, still hasn’t happened. Why? Could it be the revived talks by Repsol to buy Talisman (see Rumor Mill: Repsol Once Again Interested in Buying Talisman)? We don’t know. One thing we do know is that corporate raider Carl Icahn, who has his claws deeply into Talisman (as he does with Chesapeake Energy), is the puppet master pulling the strings and forcing the company to sell assets. Here’s the sitrep (situation report) as of a few weeks ago, according to sources talking to Bloomberg News…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Washington County

MarkWest Builds/Operates Compressor Station w/o Building Permit
December 10, 2014December 10, 2014

Hmmm. Here’s a story we don’t like to report, and fear there’s more to the story than we now know, but report it we must. MarkWest Energy, arguably the largest and most important midstream (pipelines & processing plants) company in the Marcellus and Utica Shale, was denied a building permit to construct a building to house several natural gas compressors in West Alexander (Donegal Township, Washington County), PA–but they went ahead and built it anyway, without the permit. The rogue compressor station is now up and running but has to use generators to supply power because the town won’t let them hook up electric since they’re still in violation of the building permit…
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Rice Energy

Rice Energy Launches Midstream IPO – MDN Nails the Price
December 9, 2014December 9, 2014

A month ago MDN told you that Rice Energy would spin out a midstream (pipelines & processing plants) subsidiary (see Rice Energy Readies Midstream Subsidiary IPO – How Much?). At the time, we didn’t have a clue as to how much the company would want to raise, but based on a formula we devised (pretty simple, using the same ratio of Antero’s E&P IPO vs their midstream IPO) we came up with the number of $588.5 million for the Rice Midstream IPO. We said at the time we would be back to let you know how close we came with our “back of the envelope” prediction. Looks like it was pretty darned close. Like, scary close…
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Broome County | Chenango County | Delaware County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | New York | Pipelines | Regulation | Schoharie County | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Kinder Files with FERC, NED Pipeline Changes Path in NY & MA
December 9, 2014December 9, 2014

MDN has chronicled the sad state of Massachusetts and its obtuse opposition to the Kinder Morgan Northeast Energy Direct (NED) project, a pipeline that would make both their natural gas and electricity costs a lot cheaper. We told you Kinder planned to change the path of the pipeline to avoid about half of Massachusetts on its way from New York to the Boston area (see Kinder Morgan Changes Route for Pipeline from MA to NH). What you may not know is that MA doesn’t have sole ownership of obtuseness. New York wants in on some of that action too. NIMBYs in Columbia County, NY have been kicking up a fuss over the pipeline, so when Kinder filed their new preferred route yesterday (see updated map below), they altered the course and shifted it north from Columbia County to Rensselaer County, following an existing right-of-way owned by National Grid…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Iroquois Gas Transmission | New York | Pipelines | Schoharie County | Spectra Energy

Spectra Energy Alliance with Iroquois to Sell Marcellus Gas to NE
December 9, 2014December 9, 2014

In July Spectra Energy announced a pipeline project that would compete with Kinder Morgan’s plan to run a pipeline across Massachusetts to help alleviate natural gas bottlenecks in New England (see Spectra Energy to the Rescue! New England Pipeline Expansion). Spectra’s pipeline eventually got a name and a partner: The $3 billion project is called Access Northeast and the partner is Northeast Utilities (see Spectra Energy New England Pipeline Gets a Name & a Partner). Yesterday, Spectra announced not a new partner, but a new alliance with a competitor. Iroquois Gas Transmission has agreed to provide Marcellus Shale gas to Spectra’s Access Northeast pipleine. The two will connect at the Wright, NY Interconnect in Schoharie County…
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Broome County | Chenango County | Delaware County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Regulation | Schoharie County | Williams

NY Landowners Get Eminent Domain Threat from Constitution Pipeline
December 8, 2014December 8, 2014

As we reported last week, it’s great news that the Constitution Pipeline has now received its final green light and construction is about to begin (see FERC Issues Final Approval for Constitution Pipeline in PA/NY). Some of the hardest work now lies ahead. Unfortunately, some landowners refuse to negotiate a right-of-way and so, just a few days after FERC gave the go-ahead, those landowners have received a “sign now or else” letter threatening the use of eminent domain, from Williams…
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