Pipelines

Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH

OH Landowners Outside Utica Get Piece of the Action via Pipelines
December 8, 2014December 8, 2014

You’d have to be living on the planet Mars (or perhaps Mars, PA) to not know that pipeline infrastructure has virtually taken over the spotlight from shale drilling in places like Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. Contrary to the continuing tripe that “shale supplies of gas and oil will give out any day now” that we continue to hear from certain discredited sources, supplies (in the northeast) continue to increase. And along with those supplies comes a need for pipelines. The Ohio Farm Bureau is telling OH landowners that even if they aren’t in the Utica-rich eastern portion of the state, there’s still a chance they can cash in on the shale boom because of the pipelines coming their way…
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Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation

Why Does it Take So Long to Build a Pipeline in the Northeast?
December 8, 2014December 8, 2014

Blaine Lucas, a lawyer with the Pittsburgh law firm of Babst Calland (one of the northeast’s top energy law firms) gives an overview of some of the difficulties and problems faced by midstream companies (pipelines and processing plants), along with insight into why it just takes so darned long to build pipelines–pipelines which are desperately needed to get the huge and growing supply of Marcellus Shale gas to market…
Read More “Why Does it Take So Long to Build a Pipeline in the Northeast?”
Columbiana County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Spectra Energy | Statewide OH

FERC Approves OPEN Pipeline in Eastern OH, Gas Goes to Gulf Coast
December 5, 2014December 5, 2014

Christmas continues to come a few weeks early for some of our biggest midstream (pipeline) companies. MDN told you earlier this week that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) had approved the Constitution Pipeline from NEPA up into NY. We now have word that FERC has approved Spectra Energy’s OPEN (Ohio Pipeline Energy Network) project in Ohio. Spectra originally announced the project in December 2011, a project that will build 76 miles of new pipeline from Columbiana County to Monroe County to connect to the Texas Eastern Pipeline, and then reverse the flow–make it bidirectional–on the Texas Eastern in order to carry Marcellus and Utica Shale gas from eastern Ohio to the Gulf Coast. Spectra finally filed a full, official application with FERC in February of this year (see Spectra Energy Files Formal Request with FERC for OPEN Pipeline). On Tuesday, FERC gave its final blessing for the OPEN project…
Read More “FERC Approves OPEN Pipeline in Eastern OH, Gas Goes to Gulf Coast”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Skeptical MA Farmers Hear From/Talk To Kinder about TGP Expansion
December 5, 2014December 5, 2014

The Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation is holding its annual two-day convention yesterday and today at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. One of the talks yesterday was given by reps from Kinder Morgan, to talk about the proposed expansion of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline through (now) only part of Massachusetts. What can farmers expect if the Northeast Energy Direct (NED) project cuts across their land? Even though 90% of the pipeline will track with an existing power line right-of-way, how deep will the pipeline be buried? How much of a right-of-way will be required? What about trees? Those questions and more were addressed…
Read More “Skeptical MA Farmers Hear From/Talk To Kinder about TGP Expansion”
Economic Impact | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Taxation

Property Tax Revenue/Economic Impact from ET Rover Pipeline in OH
December 4, 2014December 4, 2014

Seems like “all of a sudden” large pipeline projects planned for the northeast have begun talking about how much property taxes (and economic impacts) their projects will pay out. Yesterday it was the 550-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline project from Dominion (see Atlantic Coast Pipeline: $25M/Yr in Prop. Tax, $70M/Yr Econ Impact). Today? Energy Transfer Partners’ Rover pipeline, a 620-mile pipeline that will carry Marcellus and Utica Shale gas west, through Ohio into Michigan and on to Ontario, Canada (see Big News: ETP “Rover” Marcellus/Utica Pipeline to Midwest/Canada). How much of an economic impact and how much in property tax will it pay out? We have some numbers…
Read More “Property Tax Revenue/Economic Impact from ET Rover Pipeline in OH”
Broome County | Chenango County | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Delaware County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Schoharie County | Susquehanna County | Williams

FERC Issues Final Approval for Constitution Pipeline in PA/NY
December 3, 2014December 3, 2014

We’ve been writing about the Constitution Pipeline for, like, forever! The Constitution is planned to run 124 miles from Susquehanna County, PA up into New York State, all the way to Schoharie County where it will connect to both the Iroquois Gas Transmission pipeline and the Tennessee Gas Pipeline. It will flow some 650,000 dekatherms of natural gas per day (enough natural gas to serve approximately 3 million homes), most of it produced by Cabot Oil & Gas, one of the owners of the pipeline. In October, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a final environmental approval (see Constitution Pipeline Gets FERC Final Environmental Approval). Yesterday, FERC issued its final approval for the project–meaning the shovels will now hit the ground and construction will now begin. Horray!…
Read More “FERC Issues Final Approval for Constitution Pipeline in PA/NY”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Regulation

Deerfield MA, Kinder Morgan Lawyers Swap Barbs over NED Pipeline
December 3, 2014December 3, 2014

Kinder Morgan has put the town of Deerfield, MA on notice that its attempt to block the Tennessee Gas Pipeline expansion through the town–the Northeast Energy Direct (or NED) project–will not be stopped by a laughable “ban” enacted by the Deerfield Board of (so-called) Health. You may recall MDN covered the Deerfield BOH “order” in October to “cease immediately all of its activities in Deerfield related to the construction of the proposed pipeline within the boundaries of the town” (see Deerfield MA “Bans” Kinder Morgan TGP Pipeline – Or So They Claim). Kinder says, in so many words, nice try, but no cigar…
Read More “Deerfield MA, Kinder Morgan Lawyers Swap Barbs over NED Pipeline”
Dominion Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pipelines | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Atlantic Coast Pipeline: $25M/Yr in Prop. Tax, $70M/Yr Econ Impact
December 3, 2014December 3, 2014

The arguments by anti-drillers against pipeline projects, like Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline which is slated to run from West Virginia to North Carolina, usually amount to this: “There’s no long-term benefit to the communities through which the pipeline runs. We have to ‘put up’ with the darned thing, but we see no benefit from it.” Benefit meaning money–other than a one-time fee paid to landowners through whose land it runs. Dominion is attempting to counter those criticisms by pointing out that once the Atlantic Coast Pipeline is fully operational, it will be paying in excess of $25 million per year to counties and local municipalities in property taxes (see the list below). During construction, the pipeline will generate nearly half a billion dollars per year in economic impact in WV, VA and NC. Once the construction phase is over, through permanent jobs created and associated ongoing operating costs for the pipeline, Dominion projects the pipeline will spur nearly $70 million per year of ongoing economic activity (see full report below)…
Read More “Atlantic Coast Pipeline: $25M/Yr in Prop. Tax, $70M/Yr Econ Impact”
Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Says Compressor Stations Not Major Source of GHG Pollution
December 2, 2014December 2, 2014

Good news for midstream operators in Pennsylvania: The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection has decided not to slap compressor stations with the onerous regulatory label of being a “major source” of air pollution simply because they belch out carbon dioxide–the stuff you breathe out with every breath. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June said environmental regulators can require facilities to limit GHGs only if the facility also emits other nasty stuff, like soot and smog. Since compressor stations don’t emit high volumes of soot and smog, the plants are off the hook as being a “major source” in PA…
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Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Research

EIA Says 1/3 Natgas Pipelines in Northeast Bidirectional by 2017
December 2, 2014December 2, 2014

The U.S. Energy Information Administration is out with a new report today that says fully 1/3 of the major interstate natural gas pipelines that serve the northeast will be bidirectional by 2017–in just three years. That is, instead of bringing gas to the northeast, those same pipelines will be flow gas out of the northeast. Why? One word: Marcellus. Here’s the expert analysis by some of the best minds in the business (and we sincerely mean that)…
Read More “EIA Says 1/3 Natgas Pipelines in Northeast Bidirectional by 2017”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation | TC Energy/TransCanada

More Marcellus Gas Set to Flow into Canada Following NEB Approval
December 2, 2014December 2, 2014

TransCanada, one of North America’s largest midstream (pipeline) companies, has just received a key approval from the Canadian National Energy Board (NEB) that allows the company to raise rates on their main natural gas pipeline. The NEB approval ratified an agreement between TransCanada and its shippers worked out some two years ago. The reason the approval is news is this: “It gives all shippers the flexibility to source gas from various geographic locations including the Marcellus shale plays in the U.S., while ensuring that tolls are stable and set at levels that allow TransCanada to recover its system-wide costs.” In other words, more (cheap and abundant) Marcellus Shale gas will likely begin to flow into Canada. And that’s a good thing, as Martha Stewart says…
Read More “More Marcellus Gas Set to Flow into Canada Following NEB Approval”
Accidents | Energy Services | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH

MarkWest Fined $320K by Ohio EPA for Mud Spills in Creeks/Swamps
December 1, 2014December 1, 2014

MarkWest Energy, the largest midstream company in the Marcellus/Utica, has spent the last three years building pipelines in eastern Ohio to connect wells to processing plants and to larger interstate pipelines. In the process, the company has spent some $2.2 billion building 350 miles of pipeline (and processing plants)–and MarkWest isn’t done yet. However, during the rapid buildout of infrastructure in the Buckeye State, some minor spills have happened along the way. When drilling under creeks and swamps (otherwise renamed as “wetlands”), occasionally drilling mud spilled out–some 19 different times between 2012 and 2013. The Ohio EPA has concluded their investigation and has just fined MarkWest $320,000 for the series of spills…
Read More “MarkWest Fined $320K by Ohio EPA for Mud Spills in Creeks/Swamps”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Anti-Pipeline Arguments in New Hampshire Debunked by MDN Reader
December 1, 2014December 1, 2014

A conservative and a liberal get into a discussion at a local landfill about a plan to run a new pipeline through their state…. Sound like the setup to a joke? It’s no laughing matter. MDN subscriber Rick G. from New Hampshire recently had such an encounter. The arguments Rick heard from those opposed to the Kinder Morgan pipeline, and his counter arguments, are instructive for us all…
Read More “Anti-Pipeline Arguments in New Hampshire Debunked by MDN Reader”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Statewide WV | West Virginia

So-Called ‘Pipeline Air Force’ to Track Dominion Pipeline in WV
November 26, 2014November 26, 2014

Just when you think you’ve heard it all, along comes another bizarre twist from those who oppose shale drilling. As we’ve reported in a number of stories, Dominion is planning to build a 550-mile, $5 billion natural gas pipeline from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina. It’s called the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is now evaluating it (see Dominion Asks FERC to Start Environmental Review of SE Pipeline). Apparently a group of people who oppose the pipeline plan to keep an eye on it as it’s built (they must figure it’s a foregone conclusion that it will get built). They’ve somehow gotten ahold of three airplanes that they will use to spy from the sky as the pipeline gets built through the mountains of West Virginia…
Read More “So-Called ‘Pipeline Air Force’ to Track Dominion Pipeline in WV”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | PennEast Pipeline | Pipelines

New Jersey Resources Update: NJ Loves Natgas & PennEast
November 26, 2014November 26, 2014

A casual news consumer may think that the State of New Jersey is somewhat anti-drilling and takes a dim view of natural gas. After all, the NJ legislature has twice passed a bill that would ban any frack waste from entering the state (see NJ Gov. Christie Vetoes Frack Waste Ban 2nd Time). And opposition to the PennEast Pipeline that runs from PA to NJ has been loud and shrill on the NJ end. What you may not know, however, is that two NJ utilities are partners in the PennEast Pipeline project (see NJ’s Largest Utility Becomes 5th Partner in PennEast Pipeline). New Jersey Resources, one of the two PennEast partners, yesterday issued an update on 2014 with guidance for 2015. The thing that caught our eye? NJR continues to add new natgas customers at a rapid clip–and they’re jazzed on the prospects for the PennEast Pipeline and new sources of cheap, abundant Marcellus Shale gas that will flow to NJ…
Read More “New Jersey Resources Update: NJ Loves Natgas & PennEast”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Regulation | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Kinder Morgan Changes Route for Pipeline from MA to NH
November 25, 2014November 25, 2014

Kinder Morgan has, for some time, been locked in a battle with far-left anti-fossil fuelers in Massachusetts who oppose KM’s plan to extend the Tennessee Gas Pipeline across the width of the state in an attempt to deliver cheap, abundant, clean-burning Marcellus Shale natural gas to New England. Those same anti-fossil fuelers use fossil fuels throughout the day every day of their lives, but fail to see the hypocrisy in their twisted position. Pressure against the pipeline, called Northeast Energy Direct (or NED) is mounting as both MA U.S. Senators–both are Democrat–oppose it (see Both Mass. Senators Oppose TGP Northeast Energy Direct Pipeline). Two weeks ago KM proposed an alternate route (see map below). The alternate route, now said to be the preferred route, will shave off something like half of the distance the pipeline stretches across MA and instead chart a course northward–through southern New Hampshire–following the route of an existing power line. The cool thing? NH wants it…
Read More “Kinder Morgan Changes Route for Pipeline from MA to NH”