Processing Plants

Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | Statewide PA

PA Budget with Shell Cracker Plant Tax Credit Passes
July 2, 2012July 2, 2012

At 11:45 pm Saturday, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, for the second year in a row (and his second year in office), signed into law an on-time budget for the state—a budget that does not raise taxes. No small feat given the current sad state of the economy.

One of the biggest victories for Corbett in this year’s budget (supported by both Republicans and Democrats) was the passage of a tax credit for Shell and other companies who invest in an ethane cracker plant for the state:

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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Processing Plants | Statewide WV | West Virginia | Williams

Exterran Wins Contract to Build 3 WV NatGas Processing Plants
July 2, 2012July 2, 2012

A big “get” for Exterran Holdings. They’ve won the contract to build three natural gas processing plants being built by Williams Partners in West Virginia.

From the Exterran press release:

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Statewide PA

PA Legislature Reaches Deal on Tax Credit for Cracker Plant
June 29, 2012June 29, 2012

A deal has been struck by the Republican majority legislature in Pennsylvania to grant Shell a tax credit over a 25-year period starting in 2017. Gov. Tom Corbett had originally proposed the tax credit be capped at $66 million per year, or a total of $1.7 billion, but the final version of the law, if passed, places no limit on the total amount other than a credit of five cents per gallon of ethane used. So the total deal may exceed $66 million per year.

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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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Delaware County (PA) | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Sunoco Logistics

Will Marcellus Shale Save Philly Marcus Hook Refinery?
June 28, 2012June 28, 2012

Last year the Philadelphia region was hard-hit when both Sunoco and ConocoPhillips announced they would shut down a combined three refineries in the area. Since then, ConocoPhillips sold its refinery for $180 million to Delta Air Lines which will convert and use the plant for jet-fuel production. Sunoco is in talks to sell its one of two refineries (in Philly) to a joint venture headed by the Carlyle Group—but if that doesn’t develop, they’re going to shut it down.

And then there’s the Marcus Hook refinery, which closed it doors “for good” in April. Officials from the town of Marcus Hook and Delaware County are working hard to get it reopened. As part of that process, they commissioned a $100,000 study, just released, from IHS Consulting. The study identifies seven possible uses for the idled refinery, and pegs its best chances of reopening based on the abundance of natural gas and gas liquids coming from the Marcellus and Utica Shale region.

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Aither Chemicals | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kanawha County | Processing Plants | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Aither Chemicals Still Trying for a Cracker Plant in WV
June 22, 2012June 22, 2012

Will West Virginia ever get its own ethane cracker plant? It will if Aither Chemicals, based in South Charleston, WV has any say in the matter. MDN has been following the Aither story for some time. Aither Chemicals, a spin-off/subsidiary of Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research & Innovation Center, was established to build and operate ethane cracker plants that use modern technology making the plants smaller and less expensive to build and operate than tradition cracker plants (see this MDN story for background).

Aither had a deal in principle with Bayer CropScience and MarkWest Energy to build one of these “new” kinds of cracker plants in the Charleston, WV area. That deal was set to be officially announced in mid-March (see this MDN story). But then the wheels came off the wagon and all was silent. No deal, no announcement. Until now.

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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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Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | Statewide PA

Gov. Corbett’s PR Campaign for $1.7B Cracker Plant Tax Break
June 15, 2012June 15, 2012

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett officially launched his public relations effort yesterday to get the PA legislature to pass a package of tax credits for Shell to build an ethane cracker plant in the state. The package of tax credits will amount to $1.7 billion over a 25-year period (up to $66 million per year) and will not begin until 2017 at the earliest.

Three of Corbett’s cabinet secretaries held a forum at the Beaver County community college yesterday, near the location of the proposed plant (in Beaver County), to push for the tax credits. When the new plant is built, it will result in 20,000 new jobs throughout the region.

Corbett is making a push to get the legislature to adopt the package by the end of June, before legislators adjourn for summer recess. But many legislators complain they don’t know enough about the plan (yet) to cast a vote either way. This effort by Corbett and his administration is an attempt to bridge that gap.

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Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | Statewide PA | Taxation

More Details about Proposed Ethane Cracker Tax Break
June 11, 2012June 11, 2012

Some more details about how the tax break would work that Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett is planning to offer Shell to build it’s ethane cracker plant in PA:

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Beaver County | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | Statewide PA

Shell: Final Decision on Cracker Plant Still 18-24 Mo. Away
June 8, 2012June 8, 2012

MDN previously warned that the final decision of where Shell will build an ethane cracker plant is not a done deal. It certainly is looking good—they selected a site in Beaver County, northwest of Pittsburgh—and they are deep into planning for that site. But Shell CEO Peter Voser was quoted as saying it would be “several years” before a go/no decision on whether to build it would be made (see this MDN story).

That timeline of several years was reaffirmed by a Shell representative yesterday in comments to the Pittsburgh Business Times:

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Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | Statewide PA

PA Gov, Lt Gov Speak Out on Shell Cracker Plant Tax Break
June 6, 2012June 6, 2012

In brief public comments yesterday, both Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley supported and defended a plan to grant Shell a 25-year, $1.7 billion tax forgiveness plan if they will build and operate an ethane cracker plant in the state. For those new to the issue, ethane is one of the chemicals that comes out of the ground from natural gas drilling. Ethane can be “cracked” or converted in ethylene, a raw material used to make plastics.

The plant that Shell proposes to build will generate some 20,000 jobs and create an economic impact of $17-$20 billion. Investing $1.7 billion to get $17-$20 billion is a no-brainer.

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Economic Impact | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Statewide PA

PA to Grant $1.7B in Tax Credits for Shell Cracker Plant
June 5, 2012June 5, 2012

The AP is at it again. This time they’ve taken aim at Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett over the proposed new ethane cracker plant that Shell announced they would build in Beaver County, PA (see this MDN story for background).

The breathless headlines are that (gasp) Pennsylvania will have to grant Shell $66 million a year in tax breaks, for a total deal of some $1.7 billion in foregone taxes over 25 years (while at the same time that nasty Corbett keeps cutting previously scheduled obscene pay increases for teachers, never mind that the state is broke after years under Ed Rendell and Democrat control). That’s the sum total of the AP story running in hundreds of newspapers now.

Let’s provide some perspective, shall we?

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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.

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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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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Marshall County | Processing Plants | West Virginia

High Paying Jobs Come to Marshall County, WV Processing Plant
May 21, 2012May 21, 2012

Some high paying jobs are on the way to Marshall County, WV courtesy of a new natural gas processing plant being built by Dominion and opening in December. What’s good paying? How does $30 per hour sound?

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Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | M3 Midstream | Ohio | Processing Plants

Location for OH NGL Processing Plant Identified
May 14, 2012May 14, 2012

We now know the specific location of a previously announced $400 million shale gas collection and processing plant being built in Columbiana County, Ohio by a joint venture between Chesapeake Energy, M3 Midstream and EV Energy Partners.

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