Equitrans: Path to Finish MVP in 2023 “Still Exists” but “Narrower”
During yesterday’s quarterly phone call with analysts to discuss the 1Q23 performance of Equitrans Midstream, a big topic of conversation was the 94% completed (but stalled) Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). Equitrans (builder of MVP) CEO Thomas Karam said, “The path to an MVP completion during 2023 is narrower but based on the diligent and comprehensive work being done by the staff at various state and federal agencies and the expected overall permitting timeline, we believe the possibility of commencing forward construction this summer still exists.” He also said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (4th Circuit) and their prospective rejection of new permits for the project is not “that dire of a position.” We 100% disagree.
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In late 2015, MPLX (i.e. Marathon Petroleum) bought out and merged in the Utica Shale’s premier midstream company, MarkWest Energy, for $15 billion (see 
Earlier today Equitrans Midstream, the former EQT Midstream (now a standalone company), issued its first quarter 2023 update. The update is actually a series of updates about the company’s vitally important (to the Marcellus/Utica) pipeline and midstream projects. In the update, we learn more about the company’s Rager Mountain Natural Gas Storage Field accident; we learn the latest about the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project, essentially on hold; and we learn about the Ohio Valley Connector Expansion Project (OCVX), expected to be in-service the first half of 2024.
Disappointing news has been a constant this week–and it’s only Tuesday! Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court proved that sometimes it’s not so supreme. The high court breathed new life into a long-running lawsuit funded by Big Green groups using (abusing) a small group of uppity Virginia landowners who are arguing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) had no right to delegate authority to Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to use eminent domain to cross land, including the land owned by the small group of uppity landowners in Virginia.
Last August, Columbia Gas Transmission (a subsidiary of TC Energy) filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build the Virginia Reliability Project (VRP), which includes two new compressor units and the replacement of 49 miles of existing pipeline (see 
Yesterday the Bidenistas at the Dept. of (In)Justice (DOJ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a “settlement” (i.e. bullying) with three pipeline companies–Williams, MPLX, and Kerr-McGee Gathering. The settlement requires the three to pay a combined $9.25 million in civil penalties and make improvements at 25 gas processing plants and 91 compressor stations in 12 states, including Ohio and West Virginia, worth another $16 million. The two federal agencies claimed the pipeline companies were violating federal and state clean air laws related to leak detection and repair (LDAR) requirements for natural gas processing plants at various facilities they own and operate across the country.
Yesterday MDN brought you the fantastic news that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in liberal California, had overturned a ban on hooking up new homes and businesses to natural gas in Berkeley, CA (see 
We spotted a post by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) that, at first glance, we thought, “Yeah, we know that, and we’ve talked about it.” But on second glance, and after searching our own archives, we came to the conclusion that perhaps we haven’t talked about it. At least not plainly. The “it” we’re talking about is this: In 2022, Pennsylvania’s annual natural gas production *decreased* for the first time since the shale revolution began. Which is notable.
A rare victory for the forces of good. Berkeley, California, a bastion for liberal nuts (there’s a reason the city’s nickname is Berserkely), thought it was all cutesy when, in 2019, it passed the “first-in-the-nation” municipal ban blocking new construction (homes and businesses) from hooking up to natural gas pipelines. Berkeley said it wants to do its part to combat global warming. A few months later, the California Restaurant Association (CRA) filed a federal lawsuit challenging the city’s ability to pass a law banning new natural gas hookups. After a lower court ruled in favor of the city, the CRA appealed it to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Yesterday the judges of the 9th Circuit ruled in favor of the CRA, telling the city it’s trying to regulate gas stoves by denying pipeline hookups–something that only the federal government can do.
Natural gas pipelines use both gas- and electric-powered compressor units. In fact, around 10% of pipeline compressor stations are powered by electricity. Electrically-powered compressor stations on natural gas transmission pipelines have been identified as a possible contributor to gas shortages because they are vulnerable to electric outages during severe weather events. It turns into a vicious cycle. Lack of electricity to the compressor means flows along the pipeline slow or stop, starving power plants of the gas they need to produce electricity. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) recently published an article (study) suggesting possible solutions to fix the issue.
Yesterday the 303-mile, 94% complete Mountain Valley Pipeline project received a Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement from the U.S. Forest Service, clearing the way for the pipeline to get built through a piddly 3.5 miles of Jefferson National Forest. Ring the bells! Dance for joy! Blow the party noisemakers, right? Wrong. This is the third time this same permit has been issued. Nobody was impressed. We only found a single news story about it. The stock of Equitrans, the builder, moved up one penny on the news. Why the muted response? Because everyone has seen this movie before.