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:
Read More “Surprise! EcoNuts Object to Proposed Utica Shale Pipeline”
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:
Read More “Dominion Turns On Appalachian Gateway Project Pipeline”
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:
Read More “Luzerne County Denies UGI Permit to Build Compressor Station”
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:
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.
Read More “Enterprise Looking for More Drillers to Use Ethane Pipeline”
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.
Read More “Hilcorp & NiSource Approach OH Landowners About Pipeline”
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:
Read More “DTE Moves Forward with Bluestone Gathering Pipeline in NE PA”
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”
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”
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”
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:
Read More “Kinder Morgan Sells Tennessee Pipeline to Itself”
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.”
MDN has previously written about anti-drillers who try to use the scare tactic that “there’s radon in Marcellus gas” and the radon is going to cause lots of new cases of lung cancer in New York City (see this MDN story). No one in the mainstream press is picking up on this latest anti-drilling meme, so the same groups have issued a new press release hoping to keep the issue alive (see their press release below).
In a nutshell, they argue that Marcellus Shale gas is extracted in areas of the northeast where there’s lots of naturally occurring radon, and because the gas gets to market so quickly (Pennsylvania Marcellus gas fields are “right next door” to NYC), the radon has no chance to naturally dissipate. When radon hits the air, it dissipates and becomes harmless. Radon has a half life of 3.5 days—breaking down and becoming harmless at that point. The concern, apparently, is that the gas will get to market and used in under 3.5 days.
Read More “Does Marcellus Shale Gas have Cancer-Causing Radon?”
As the pace of drilling continues (but slows) in the Marcellus, the next major phase of work begins: completing wells and getting all that shale gas to market. That’s why pipelines, compressor stations and processing plants are important. Williams Partners, one of the largest pipeline operators in the country, announced yesterday they plan to expand their existing Transco Leidy Line in northern PA to accommodate new demands for shipping Marcellus Shale gas.
They expect to make a pre-filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in early 2013, and hope to have the expansion complete by late 2015.
Read More “Williams Plans Marcellus Expansion of Transco Leidy Pipeline”
Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company (or “Transco”) received a significant boost from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) yesterday. FERC issued a “finding” that Transco’s proposed pipeline extension in the northeast, called the Northeast Supply Link Project, does not pose a threat to the environment. The finding clears the way for full FERC approval of the project.
The project will run new pipeline and expand existing pipeline from Transco’s Leidy Line in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to existing delivery points in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York City, brining with it new quantities of Marcellus Shale gas to metropolitan population centers in the northeast, including New Jersey and New York City. The FERC finding means the project will likely now receive a green light to move forward. FERC is the federal agency charged with evaluating and approving new pipeline projects in the U.S.
Read More “Transco Northeast Pipeline Extension Gets Boost from FERC”
MarkWest has just signed a deal with XTO Energy (XTO is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Exxon Mobil) to extend MarkWest’s natural gas liquids (NGLs) gathering pipeline in Butler County, PA to XTO’s processing plant. Previously MarkWest announced plans to extend the same pipeline from its Houston, PA complex to the Bluestone complex in Butler County. With this announcement, MarkWest will further extend the pipeline from Bluestone to XTO’s plant.
This deal will grant MarkWest the right to fractionate and market NGLs from XTO. Adding this new pipeline to other recently announced pipelines by MarkWest, when everything is built and running, MarkWest will have 3 billion cubic feet of gas processing capacity and 270,000 barrels per day of fractionation capacity throughout the Marcellus and Utica Shale.
Read More “MarkWest Signs Deal with XTO to Process NGLs in PA”