Pipelines

Brooke County | Hancock County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio County | Pipelines | West Virginia

WV Landowners Drive a Hard Bargain for Pipeline Deals
July 6, 2012December 19, 2012

Some West Virginia landowners who feel shortchanged with low drilling signing bonuses ($5 per acre) and royalty rates (12.5%) are holding out for better deals to run pipelines across their property, and that’s leading to a slow-down of new wells coming online in the state, according to a former DEP representative.

Counties being affected by the slowdown include Ohio, Brooke and Hancock. Typically pipeline easements are a one-time payment, like a signing bonus, and are based on a per foot price. How high will those prices go? Some of the numbers being tossed about are breathtaking.

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Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Processing Plants

Ethane, a “Stranded Commodity” About to be Rescued
June 29, 2012June 29, 2012

The Motley Fool blog site has an insightful article today on ethane, “the stranded commodity” that, according to the article, won’t be stranded for long! What does that have to do with Marcellus and Utica Shale gas drilling? Everything, as it turns out.

As explained in the article, ethane is produced from natural gas drilling in “wet gas” areas—mostly southwestern PA, eastern OH, and the northern panhandle of WV. Ethane, as MDN has explained countless times (but there’s always new readers!) can be “cracked” into ethylene, the raw material or “feedstock” used by chemical manufacturers to make plastics and products like tires and antifreeze. But there’s one problem with the ethane coming from the Marcellus and Utica Shale: it currently costs too much to transport it to the Gulf Coast and other points where it can be converted.

According to the author of the article, that will all change soon.

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Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Spectra Energy | Statewide NY

Sierra Club Attacks FERC for Approving NYC Pipeline
June 25, 2012June 25, 2012

Recently the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the construction of a 20-mile pipeline from New Jersey to New York City (see this MDN story). Spectra Energy is constructing the pipeline to the tune of $1.2 billion (a mini-economic boom for NJ/NY). The new pipeline and the cheap natural gas it will bring to NYC will reduce oil burning, which will be mandated starting in 2015 when NYC residents and landlords will no longer be allowed to burn No. 6 fuel oil. The new pipeline will be the equivalent of taking the emissions of 1 million cars off city streets per year. A good thing, no?

According to Sierra Club, that is a “no.” The Sierra Club doesn’t want cheap natural gas delivered to NYC, saving customers millions of dollars and saving the environment, because they don’t like fracking and the gas will mostly come from the Marcellus Shale. And that doesn’t fit with the the Sierra Club’s “attack everything natural gas” philosophy. So they’ve begun the process of protesting the approval for the pipeline, a process that will eventually end in federal court. Stunningly, in the paperwork they filed last week, they blame FERC for doing its job!

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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Pipelines | West Virginia

Marshall County, WV Pipeline Installation Problems
June 25, 2012June 25, 2012

George Lagos and his small staff of water department employees who work at Marshall County (WV) Public Service District No. 4 (PSD No. 4) have a problem—too many gas pipelines being laid, not enough workers to inspect the process.

PSD No. 4 serves a large area of the county between Moundsville and Cameron. Lagos and two others are responsible for inspecting and maintaining 200 miles of water and other types of pipelines. When new natural gas pipelines are installed, Lagos is supposed to get 48 hours notice so they can monitor the installation. According to Lagos, that isn’t happening.

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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | PVR Midstream | PVR Partners

PVR Sells Pipeline in East Texas, Concentrating on Marcellus
June 19, 2012June 18, 2012

Penn Virginia Resource Partners (PVR), a midstream company, yesterday announced it’s selling off a small natural gas gathering system and processing plant in east Texas to DCP Midstream Partners for $63 million. The reason? To concentrate more on the Marcellus Shale region (and to focus more on PVR’s other area of focus—the panhandle of Texas and Oklahoma).

From the PVR press release:

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

Commonwealth Pipeline Open Season Exceeds Expectations
June 19, 2012June 18, 2012

Inergy Midstream, UGI Energy and Capitol Energy Ventures are partnering to build a new 200-mile natural gas pipeline from Lycoming County, PA all the way to Rockville, MD (see this MDN story). Called the Commonwealth Pipeline, the new $1 billion pipeline will connect with several major interstate pipelines along its route.

Yesterday, Inergy et al reported that their non-binding open season to sign up customers to use the pipeline went better than expected. From the Inergy press release:

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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County | Williams

The Next Battleground for Shale Drilling: Compressor Plants
June 18, 2012June 18, 2012

As the number of Marcellus gas wells increase in Pennsylvania, so too do the number of pipelines to move the gas and the number of natural gas compressor stations. Compressor stations push the gas along the pipeline until the pipeline connects to a larger pipeline. Compressor stations are the next battleground for anti-drillers who want to plant the seeds of doubt.

For example, 29 permits have been or are being considered for compressor stations in northeastern PA, and of those, nearly two dozen of them are within a 15-mile radius of Dimock, PA. Since 2005, 383 permits have been issued statewide, but not all of them have been or will be built. The issue of contention is air pollution. Each station emits some volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). How much they emit, and their combined effect in a region, is what is in dispute.

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Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | National Fuel | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Seneca Resources

Trout Run Pipeline Goes Operational, Seneca Wells Connect
June 15, 2012June 15, 2012

National Fuel Gas Midstream’s new Trout Run Gathering System (Lycoming County, PA) came online May 30 and is now delivering natural gas to the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco). Because the new pipeline is now operational, Seneca Resources has brought online four new wells. As of a few days ago, the wells were producing a combined 45 million cubic feet of gas per day.

National Fuel Gas’ press release:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Statewide NY

The Latest Anti-Drilling Scare Tactic: Radon in Shale Gas
June 14, 2012June 14, 2012

There’s no polite way to say this, so I won’t bother: The nutters are coming out of the woodwork. Damascus Citizens for Sustainability (DCS), NYH2O and 50 “other signatories” have sent a letter to Speaker Quinn of the New York City Council asking the speaker to convene hearings on the issue of radon in natural gas. They are claiming (and this is the nutty part) that Marcellus Shale gas contains radon and that Marcellus gas gets to market so fast the radon doesn’t have time to break down and dissipate. That is, it’s a health risk for New York City residents who use natural gas.

The solution, according to DCS and the others? Don’t use natural gas—at least not the cheap, abundant natural gas that comes from the Marcellus Shale.

Here’s their press release, if you can understand it:

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Energy Services | Fayette County | Greene County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Peregrine Keystone Gas Pipeline | Pipelines | Regulation | Washington County

Peregrine Pipeline Withdraws Public Utility Application
June 14, 2012June 14, 2012

Peregrine Keystone Gas Pipeline had planned to construct a gathering pipeline in Greene, Fayette and Washington counties in western PA. They filed an application with the PA Public Utility Commission (PUC) in 2010 to become a public utility which would grant them the right to use eminent domain to force landowners to allow them to build a pipeline across their property.

Last month an administrative law judge ruled against Peregrine’s application, and on June 8 Peregrine withdrew the application. Although they believe they have a strong case, with the low price of natural gas and the high likelihood of an extended court battle, Peregrine has given up on public utility status.

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Bradford County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Inergy | Litigation | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Sullivan County

Court Clears Way to Build MARC 1 Marcellus Pipeline in PA
June 13, 2012June 13, 2012

A federal appeals court has cleared the way for the construction of the MARC 1 Marcellus Shale pipeline to be built in northeastern Pennsylvania. The court released a decision yesterday rejecting claims by “environmental” groups to stop the pipeline. Part of their argument revolved around “the broader impacts” caused by natural gas drilling—that is, pipelines make more drilling likely and that’s not a good thing (according to them). The court rejected that argument.

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Belmont County | EMG | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Guernsey County | Gulfport Energy | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Ohio | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Utica Shale

MarkWest/EMG Finalize Deal with Gulfport Energy in OH Utica
June 4, 2012June 4, 2012

MarkWest’s joint venture with EMG, called MarkWest Utica, has finalized their deal with Gulfport Energy to provide midstream infrastructure services (pipelines and gas processing) in Harrison, Guernsey and Belmont counties in Ohio. The deal was initially announced in early March (see this MDN story). No word on the price tag for the deal.

Read More “MarkWest/EMG Finalize Deal with Gulfport Energy in OH Utica”
Bradford County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA

PA Court Overturns Lower Court on Zoning Compressor Plants
May 29, 2012May 29, 2012

A new ruling in Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court will have far-reaching implications for municipalities that try to apply zoning regulations to a select part of the drilling process, like compressor stations. Compressor stations are necessary to move gas along pipelines—from the well to a point where the gas can be processed and eventually sold. A three judge panel has just overturned a lower court’s decision on whether or not townships can regulate compressors separately from other drilling activities.

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

Proposed Compressor Plant Near Wilkes-Barre Criticized
May 24, 2012May 24, 2012

Residents gathered in West Wyoming (Luzerne County), PA to hear about plans from UGI Energy Services, subsidiary of UGI Utilities, to build a natural gas compressor plant in the township. The compressor plant will help bring Marcellus Shale gas through a new 28-mile pipeline UGI is building from Wyoming County to Luzerne County. Getting shale gas to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area will lead to a 40 percent reduction in natural gas bills for customers over the next four years, according to UGI.

But the compressor plant is not without its critics…

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

FERC Approves Spectra Energy’s $1.2B NYC Natural Gas Pipeline
May 23, 2012May 23, 2012

Spectra Energy’s proposed $1.2 billion natural gas pipeline for New York City finally won approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Monday. The 20-mile new pipeline to be built will connect New York to New Jersey and deliver 800 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to homes and businesses in New York. Most of the gas will come from the Marcellus Shale. It will ease the energy needs of New York because starting in 2015 the City will no longer allow No. 6 fuel oil to be burned.

The new pipeline and the energy it will deliver by saving all that oil burning will be the equivalent of taking 1 million cars off the road. That’s a good thing, right? So how have some New Yorkers responded? Thankful that they too will be able to access cleaner burning, lower cost natural gas? Thankful that this new pipeline will result in cleaner air? You guessed it—they don’t want it!

Read More “FERC Approves Spectra Energy’s $1.2B NYC Natural Gas Pipeline”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | PVR Midstream | PVR Partners

PVR Announces $380 Million Investment in NE PA Marcellus
May 22, 2012May 22, 2012

Penn Virginia Resource Partners (PVR) is kicking up its commitment to the Marcellus Shale in northeastern PA a notch. Yesterday they announced they would invest $380 million on Marcellus Shale pipeline projects including a new extension to its natural gas pipeline in Lycoming County, PA. The announcement also reveals that they have commitments from Shell, Southwestern, Range and Inflection for the extra capacity and services. Yesterday PVR completed a previously announced deal to acquire Chief Gathering.

From the PVR press release:

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