Pipelines

Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Trucking

Short Line Railroads to the Midstream Rescue?
September 10, 2012September 10, 2012

One of the recurring stories MDN loves to cover is that of the renaissance of short line railroads, making a comeback because of shale gas drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Drillers need equipment and sand—lots of sand—hauled on a regular basis, and short line railroads play a key part in that equation.

But hauling equipment and sand may not be the complete picture. Short lines and national rail lines are now eyeing a role in hauling natural gas and oil in the absence of pipelines.

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CNX Resources | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

CONSOL Exec Says Utica Pipelines are Critical Need
September 10, 2012September 10, 2012

Harry Schurr, general manager of Utica operations for CONSOL Energy’s CNX Gas, puts pipelines at the top of his wish list for what he needs in the Utica Shale. Schurr made the following comments a day after the NEXUS Gas Transmission was announced last week:

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Crime | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Spectra Energy | Statewide NY

2 Protesters Arrested in NYC at Spectra Pipeline Site
September 7, 2012September 7, 2012

Yet another case of unhinged anti-drilling protesters, this one in New York City. For some time, protesters have rallied against a new 20-mile, $1.2 billion natural gas pipeline being built from New Jersey to New York City by Spectra Energy (see this MDN story). It’s the first new natural gas pipeline built to NYC in decades. According to NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, without new sources of natural gas, New York City residents won’t just pay higher rates for heating and electricity, they’ll run out of it (see this MDN story).

Anti-drilling protesters don’t let reality and common sense get in the way of a good protest, however, so they’ve taken to so-called acts of “civil” disobedience—attempting to block workers in NYC as they try to construct the new pipeline. Yesterday, their antics got two of them arrested.

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Crime | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Inergy | New York | Pipelines | Schuyler County

Anti-Drilling Protesters Arrested Near Watkins Glen, NY
September 7, 2012September 7, 2012

Anti-drilling protesters in New York are increasingly becoming unhinged. Midstream company Inergy is working on a gas storage project near Watkins Glen in the Finger Lakes region in New York. The $40 million project will create a storage and transfer station for natural gas and liquid petroleum in underground salt caverns near Seneca Lake. Are anti-drillers concerned that the facility will leak gas into the lake? Nope. They just hate fossil fuels period—and they think this facility will encourage more drilling and fracking in New York and Pennsylvania—so they oppose it.

Yesterday a couple of old hippies protesters handcuffed themselves to a fence at the facility. Here’s what happened:

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DTE Energy | Enbridge | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Spectra Energy

Surprise! EcoNuts Object to Proposed Utica Shale Pipeline
September 6, 2012September 6, 2012

On Tuesday MDN brought you the news of a major new Utica Shale gas pipeline that will be built from Ohio through Michigan and into Canada by DTE Energy, Enbridge Inc. and Spectra Energy Corp (see this MDN story). It didn’t take long for anti-drillers, like EcoWatch, to announce their opposition.

This is what passes for news on MSNBC:

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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Dominion Turns On Appalachian Gateway Project Pipeline
September 5, 2012September 5, 2012

Dominion Transmission “threw the switch” (or rather opened the valve) to the Appalachian Gateway Project yesterday. The project was 3/4 of a billion dollars spent by Dominion to upgrade and expand existing infrastructure, and to build 110 miles of new pipeline. The end result is a big increase in the amount of Marcellus Shale gas flowing from West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania to markets along the eastern seaboard.

From the Dominion press release:

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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | UGI Energy Services

Luzerne County Denies UGI Permit to Build Compressor Station
September 5, 2012September 5, 2012

Sadly, the Luzerne County, PA zoning hearing board has voted to deny UGI Energy Services a permit to build a much-needed compressor station in West Wyoming. The station would help bring low-cost shale gas to local customers. Apparently local customers in Luzerne County prefer paying higher costs for their natural gas.

Here’s what happened last night:

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DTE Energy | Enbridge | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Spectra Energy | Utica Shale

New Utica Shale Pipeline to Midwest Announced
September 4, 2012September 4, 2012

Three companies have formed a joint venture to build a new Utica Shale pipeline from Ohio through Michigan and eventually into Canada, delivering Utica Shale gas to Midwestern markets. The three companies are DTE Energy—a Detroit-based energy company, Enbridge—Canada’s largest natural gas distribution company, and Spectra Energy—one of North America’s largest pipeline companies and a member of the Fortune 500 list. The partners plan an open season to lock in customers for the new pipeline later this year. The pipeline won’t be built and in service until late 2015 at the earliest.

From the joint press release issued this morning:

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Energy Services | Enterprise Products Partners | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

Enterprise Looking for More Drillers to Use Ethane Pipeline
August 31, 2012August 31, 2012

Enterprise Products Partners is building a new 1,230-mile ethane pipeline, called the ATEX Express, that will stretch from Washington County, PA all the way to the Gulf Coast (see this MDN story for background). When completed, the pipeline will carry nearly 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of ethane from the Marcellus and Utica Shale region to Texas for processing at ethane cracker plants along the Gulf Coast.

Enterprise already has enough commitments from drillers to build the pipeline. Both Chesapeake Energy and Range Resources have committed to sizable capacity in the pipeline (75,000 bpd for Chesapeake, and 125,000 bpd for Range, see this MDN story). However, Enterprise still has lots of capacity left, so they’ve started a new “open season” or period of time for more drillers to claim capacity in the new pipeline.

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Energy Companies | Energy Services | Hilcorp Energy | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | NiSource | Ohio | Pipelines

Hilcorp & NiSource Approach OH Landowners About Pipeline
August 27, 2012

In July, Hilcorp Energy and NiSource announced a joint venture to combine their Utica shale acreage with Hilcorp doing the drilling. The jv also will build wet gas gathering pipelines in Ohio and Pennsylvania (see this MDN story). It looks like the pipeline part has begun. A Youngstown television station reported over the weekend that reps from Hilcorp and NiSource were going door to door in parts of Mahoning County asking landowners to sign waivers to allow the pipeline.

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Broome County | DTE Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Susquehanna County

DTE Moves Forward with Bluestone Gathering Pipeline in NE PA
August 20, 2012August 20, 2012

In July of 2011 DTE Energy announced they would file to build a 37-mile natural gas gathering pipeline through the Town of Sanford (Broome County, NY) as well as the towns of New Milford, Harford, Thompson, Jackson, Lenox and Harmony in Susquehanna County, PA. Dubbed the Bluestone Pipeline, the new gathering pipeline will hook to Marcellus gas wells along its route and connect to both the Millennium and the Tennessee interstate pipelines. (A data sheet issued in July 2011 showing the route of the pipeline is embedded below.)

DTE, under their subsidiary Bluestone Gas Corporation, filed a proposal on August 9 to move forward with building the pipeline. The New York State Public Service Commission is now accepting public comment on the proposed pipeline and its route until August 31. From the Public Service Commission press release:

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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Inergy | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | UGI Energy Services

More Details on Commonwealth Pipeline for Marcellus
August 20, 2012August 20, 2012

As previously reported, a new $1 billion pipeline for Marcellus and Utica Shale gas is in the works from Inergy, UGI and Capitol Energy Ventures (see this MDN story). The 200-mile “Commonwealth Line” would run from the MARC 1 Hub Line in Lycoming County, PA due south, connecting to Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, DC.

Here’s a bit more information about the project which is moving forward full speed ahead:

Read More “More Details on Commonwealth Pipeline for Marcellus”
Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

REX NatGas Pipeline Faces Stiff Competition from Marcellus
August 17, 2012August 17, 2012

RBN Energy President Rusty Braziel says the Rockies Express natural gas pipeline (REX), which originates in Rio Blanco County, Colorado and sends gas to Monroe County, Ohio, is in danger of drying up because there’s so much shale gas coming from the Marcellus.

Braziel’s prescription? REX needs to look at flowing gas in other directions—either the Gulf Coast, the West Coast, or both.

Read More “REX NatGas Pipeline Faces Stiff Competition from Marcellus”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

Sunoco Logistics Open Season for Mariner East NGL Pipeline
August 10, 2012August 10, 2012

Sunoco Logistics began an “open season” yesterday for their Mariner East pipeline project to deliver natural gas liquids—propane and ethane—from liquids-rich Marcellus Shale areas in western Pennsylvania to refineries and shipping terminals in southeastern Pennsylvania. An open season is the time when drillers can sign up and make long-term commitments to use the pipeline.

From the Sunoco press release:

Read More “Sunoco Logistics Open Season for Mariner East NGL Pipeline”
El Paso | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Kinder Morgan Sells Tennessee Pipeline to Itself
August 7, 2012August 7, 2012

Stories about pipelines are not very glamorous, but when the pipeline in question is one of the major pipelines that carries Marcellus Shale gas—it’s important nonetheless. This story is sort of inside baseball. Kinder Morgan, the country’s largest pipeline company, recently concluded the acquisition of another huge pipeline company—El Paso (for $21 billion). As part of the deal, for regulatory reasons, they are required to sell the Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) and a half interest in the El Paso Natural Gas pipeline (EPNG). They just announced a deal to do so, selling it to Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, which is a subsidiary/related company to Kinder. So Kinder has sold a pipeline to itself, in essence.

Here’s the press release:

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

The Marcellus becomes No. 1 Shale for Natural Gas in U.S.
August 6, 2012August 6, 2012

In four short years, the Marcellus Shale has gone from barley registering on national energy reports to becoming the number one most productive natural gas field in the United States, according to Powell Shale Digest and data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Read More “The Marcellus becomes No. 1 Shale for Natural Gas in U.S.”