Regulation

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    Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline Gets Final Approval by FERC

    Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline map – click for larger version

    Friday saw a flurry of activity at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)–the federal agency in charge of evaluating and authorizing interstate pipeline projects. Today is FERC-day on MDN, because there was so much news from Friday! Perhaps the most important news coming out of a list of approvals was FERC’s final blessing on Williams’ $3 billion Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project–a 198-mile pipeline project running through 10 Pennsylvania counties to connect Marcellus Shale natural gas from PA with the Williams’ Transco pipeline in southern Lancaster County. In addition to the pipeline, two new compressor stations will get built, and when the whole thing is done, an extra 1.7 billion cubic feet per day of northeast PA Marcellus Shale gas (from Cabot Oil & Gas and Seneca Resources) will flow south. On Friday, FERC issued a final certificate for the project, allowing Williams to build it. We can’t wait until Williams goes through and knocks down the magic tree house built by environmental wackos in an attempt to stop the project (see PA Antis Build 2nd Magic Tree House to Stop Atlantic Sunrise Pipe). That’ll make for some great headlines when it happens. However, Williams isn’t starting up the bulldozers just yet. Before they can begin, Williams still needs permits from the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. However, permits from PA & the Army Corps is perfunctory. It’s now over. The antis have lost and the good guys have finally scored a victory! Construction will begin on the main portion of the pipeline in mid-2017…
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    ET Rover Pipeline Gets Final Approval by FERC

    ET Rover Pipeline map – click for larger version

    Perhaps the second most important (some might argue first in importance) pipeline to be approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last Friday is Energy Transfer’s Rover Pipeline project. Rover is a $3.7 billion, 711-mile Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline that will run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada. Energy Transfer says with certificate in hand, they will have Phase 1 of the project done by July of this year, and Phase 2 by November of this year. Does that mean the bulldozers are already moving? Not just yet. The first thing to happen is tree clearing, which must be done by March 31 (you can be sure the chainsaws are already going this morning). Then FERC staff will check on things. There is still the outstanding issue that ET knocked down a historic house without permission (see Rover Pipeline in Hot Water Over Demolishing Historic House in OH). FERC is still sore over that one and withholding permission to begin the bulldozers until they decide on just how expensive the punishment will be. But the good news is that FERC has signed off, and the project will now get done–this year. Which drillers reserved capacity on Rover? Antero Resources, Eclipse Resources, EQT, Gulfport Energy, Rice Energy, Range Resources and Southwestern Energy…
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    Rayne Xpress Gets FERC Approval to Begin Construction in KY

    Rayne XPress map – click for larger version

    In January, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) voted to approve and issue a certificate to Columbia Pipeine’s Leach XPress and Rayne XPress pipeline projects (see FERC Approves $1.8B Leach & Rayne XPress Pipeline Projects). The two projects work hand in glove to move Marcellus/Utica gas all the way to the Gulf Coast (see Columbia Gas: $1.75B for 2 Projects to Send Marcellus Gas to Gulf). You might think (as we did) that when FERC granted the final certificate, that would be the end of the story. Start the bulldozers, begin building! But no, such is not the way it works in bureaucrat-land. It seems FERC also needed to issue a “Mother May I?” certificate to begin construction, which they did on Friday (amidst a flurry of other certificates issued)…
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    NFG’s Northern Access Pipe in NY/PA Gets FERC Approval

    NFG’s Northern Access 2016 Pipeline map – click for larger version

    National Fuel Gas Company (NFG), the Buffalo-based utility giant with both a drilling subsidiary (Seneca Resources) and a midstream/pipeline subsidiary (Empire Pipeline) filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in March 2015 for a pipeline project they call Northern Access 2016 (later renamed to simply Northern Access Project, dropping the “2016” part). The $455 million project includes building 97 miles of new pipeline along a power line corridor from northwestern Pennsylvania up to Erie County, NY. The project also calls for 3 miles of new pipeline further up, in Niagara County, along with a new compressor station in the Town of Pendleton (see NFG’s Marcellus Pipeline from NWPA to NY Hits Resistence). In July 2016, FERC issued a favorable Environmental Assessment, paving the path for full approval (see NFG’s Northern Access Pipeline Gets Favorable FERC Review). NFG had hoped to have the project done and in-service by November of this year. However, due to foot-dragging by FERC, NFG recently announced the project would get delayed (see FERC Delay Pushes Back NFG’s Northern Access Pipeline Project). Perhaps that announcement was premature? On Friday, FERC approved the project and granted NFG their certificate to build it, although NFG is still saying the new/delayed schedule is the schedule they will stick to in building it…
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    TGP Orion Project in NEPA Gets Final Approval by FERC

    TGP Orion Project map – click for larger version

    In October 2015, Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) filed their official, full application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) seeking approval for their Orion Project (see Tennessee Gas Pipeline Files PA Orion Project with FERC). The project will cost $143 million and construct 13 miles of “looping” pipeline in Pike and Wayne counties, Pennsylvania. The project will boost capacity on the TGP by another 135 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d), allowing TGP to pump more Marcellus Shale gas to Mid-Atlantic and New England states. According to the original plan, the TGP Orion upgrade will be complete and in-service by June 2018. TGP told FERC if they didn’t get an approval by Jan. 31, all bets are off on the timing for building the project (see Kinder Morgan Asks FERC to Approve Orion Pipe Project by Jan 31). It was Feb. 3 and not Jan. 31, but we’re betting the project will now get done on time–because FERC granted the necessary certificate on Friday…
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    FERC Commissioner Norm Bay Targets M-U on Way Out the Door

    Looks to us like Donald Trump’s faith in Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur was well-placed. As we previously noted, Trump has put LaFluer in charge of the agency as Chairman, which caused the existing Chairman of FERC, Norm Bay, to resign in a huff (see FERC Commissioner Resigns Threatening Major M-U Pipeline Projects). LaFleur has been a FERC Commissioner since 2010 and was, at one time, the Chairman. Norm Bay was elevated by then-President Obama to become chairman, knocking LaFluer out of that role. Did she quit in a huff? No. She’s an adult. (By the way, both LaFleur and Bay are Democrats, so this isn’t a party thing.) When the shoe was on the other foot, Norm decided to take his marbles and go home, potentially damaging a bevy of important pipeline projects. With only two Commissioners left out of five slots, there isn’t a quorum and votes cannot be taken–until Trump gets new nominees approved. LaFleur has gotten more done in the past week that she’s been in charge than Bay got done over the past year–at least with respect to approving Marcellus/Utica projects (witness five key projects receiving approvals last Thursday/Friday that we’ve written about today). In one of the decisions issued by FERC last Friday, Bay got a final dig in on the Marcellus/Utica region by calling on FERC to exceed its constitutional authority and “analyze the environmental effects of increased regional gas production from the Marcellus and Utica” shale regions. Apparently Bay thinks there may be too many pipelines getting built, and he’s worried about man-made global warming, among other lefty things…
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    Mariner East 2 Permits May Come Today – Antis Foment Civil Unrest

    According to rumors floating around the Pennsylvania environmental wacko movement, today is the day the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) will issue the final permits needed by Sunoco Logistic Partners to begin construction of the Mariner East 2 NGL pipeline that will stretch across the entire state. Neither Sunoco nor the DEP would confirm the rumor, but the wackos are agitated and saying their “inside sources” (of which they appear to have many) are telling them it’s today. And what if it happens? According to Maya van Rossum (THE Delaware Riverkeeper), the antis will employ their two favorite tactics: Sue in court, and whip up the more radical folks in the movement into a frenzy so they “rise up in protest.” You know, like the “protesters” (i.e. criminals) did in North Dakota–the ones who fired shots at police officers, burned tires, and engaged in illegal actions to stop work on the Dakota Access Pipeline (see Police Remove Pipeline Protesting THUGS from Private Land in ND). Here’s the latest from the rumor mill about the permits coming possibly today…
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    FERC Approves SC Pipeline to Flow Marcellus Gas to Charleston

    Click for larger version

    In March 2016, Dominion filed an official application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a 55-mile pipeline project called the Transco to Charleston Project (see Dominion Files Application to Move Marcellus Gas to Charleston, SC). As the name implies, it will be a short pipeline to connect the Transco pipeline, which is in the process of reversing flows to bring Marcellus and Utica Shale gas south. This new pipeline will grab Transco’s Marcellus/Utica gas and send it to the Charleston, SC area. The projected in-service date is November of this year. However, this project, like every square inch of every pipeline project in the Eastern U.S., faces opposition from nutty anti-drilling radicals who vow to try and stop it even if it gets FERC approval (see SC Antis Fuss Over Pipeline to Carry Marcellus Gas to Charleston). The antis will now get their chance to deliver on their big boasts. In what is turning out to be a busy week at FERC, the three remaining Commissioners granted Dominion the certificate to build the Transco to Charleston pipeline. Great news indeed!…
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    Clean Energy Future Blasts Plan to Re-Regulate OH Powergen

    A few weeks ago MDN highlighted a developing issue in Ohio that potentially impacts Utica/Marcellus shale in the region (see OH Power Cos. Try to Stop Gas-Fired Plants with “Re-Regulation”). Three large utility companies–FirstEnergy, American Electric Power, and Dayton Power and Light–are behind an effort to re-regulate the electric power generation industry in Ohio. The electricity industry is a complicated industry, with some some power producers operating as “regulated” and some operating as “unregulated.” Regulated power producers have their rates, and rate of profit, set by government regulators–which limits profits but also guarantees profits. Unregulated power producers, on the other hand, do not have the safety net of the government forcing ratepayers to pony up–they operate in the free market, taking all of the risks, and reaping the rewards if those risks prove worthwhile. Many (most?) of the new natural gas-fired electric plants getting built, like those we have focused on in Ohio, are of the unregulated kind. If Ohio rolls back the clock 18 years to re-regulate, it would likely spell the end of billions of dollars of investments in unregulated/shale-powered electric plants. A disaster. And that’s just what Bill Siderewicz, president of Clean Energy Future (investing $4.5 billion in five new shale-fired electric plants in Ohio) said on a conference call yesterday…
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    Mass. Senators Ask FERC to Reverse Atlantic Bridge Certification

    Two of the most unfit Senators in the U.S. Senate are Ed Markey and the faux American Indian, Elizabeth Warren. Both radical extremists–both kind of loopy. So it is no surprise that they are calling on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reverse the decision FERC made just last week to authorize Spectra Energy’s Atlantic Bridge project (see FERC Approves Atlantic Bridge Project for New England/Canada). What makes their request so bizarre is there isn’t a chance in Hates that FERC will reverse that decision–especially with President Donald J. Trump in charge (yes, elections have consequences). So why ask FERC to do it? Ostensibly antis like Markey and Warren are worried about FERC for the same reasons pro-gas supporters are worried. With the huffy departure of Commissioner Norman Bay today (calculated to do maximum damage to the Trump Administration), there won’t be enough Commissioners to make decisions on big pipeline projects (see FERC Commissioner Resigns Threatening Major M-U Pipeline Projects). Our concern is that important projects will get delayed. Markey/Warren’s concern is that already-approved projects, like Atlantic Bridge, won’t get a vote to reconsider for the same reason…
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    EPA Gravy Train Comes to an End – “Researchers” Freak Out

    We’ve always thought the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was populated with environmental leftist with an agenda–a mission. And that support for the agency by groups, and even by businesses who come under their regulation, was driven by a warped philosophy. However, two recent bits of information now snap the picture into full focus. The reason the EPA is so zealously defended and promoted by those inside and outside the agency isn’t really about protecting humans and protecting the planet. Oh, that has something to do with it. But the primary motivator is (you guessed it), money. Greed. Graft. Payola. This began to come into focus for us when we ran a post yesterday that stated President Trump will “seek significant budget and staff cuts” and when an aide to Trump on the transition team “suggested it was reasonable to expect the president to seek a cut of about $1 billion from the EPA’s roughly $8 billion annual budget.” What does EPA do with all that money? “About half the EPA’s budget passes through to state and local governments for infrastructure projects and environmental cleanup efforts.” But that’s not all. The EPA also funnels money to researchers and even to private businesses in the form of grants. In other words, the EPA has been a gravy train for a good many people, and the train is about to come to a screeching halt…
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    Trump Takes Aim at EPA – Rumored to Cut Half of 15K Employees

    Finally, something is being done about draining the swamp that has been (until now) a rogue, out-of-control federal Environmental Protection Agency. As we previously reported, Trump could not have picked a better person to head the agency than Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt (see Master Stroke: Trump Selects OK AG Pruitt to Lead EPA). We’ve heard Pruitt speak, in person. He’s the right man for the job. The EPA under Barack Obama regularly exceeded its constitutional boundaries and attempted, on multiple occasions, to regulate the oil and gas industry. We can assure you there will be a whole less regulatin’ goin’ on at the EPA from now on. In addition to Pruitt at the helm, Trump is taking aim at “significant” budget and (most importantly) staff cuts at the agency. According to an AP article running in Time magazine, Trump wants to dump half of EPA’s 15,000 employees. Maybe more. To which we say, hooray! Gutting the EPA is making environmental radicals who have had their way with the agency for the last eight years, apoplectic…
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    PA Senator Makes the Case: PA Air Getting Cleaner Thx to Shale

    Recently a biased editorial ran in the biased Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, taking aim at methane. The editorial, penned by Brian O’Neill, misrepresented the facts about methane in PA, in an attempt to garner support for onerous new regulations put forward by Gov. Wolf’s Dept. of Environmental Protection. State Sen. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Jefferson Hills (representing parts of Allegheny County and Washington County), responded with his own editorial. To their credit, the Post-Gazette published it. Reschenthaler said the air is actually getting cleaner in PA, not dirtier, thanks to Marcellus Shale gas. And the new regulations being pedaled by Wolf will not make things better environmentally. The only thing the new regs will do is kill jobs…
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    FERC Acting Chair Cheryl LaFleur Tries to Reassure Pipeline Cos.

    As we reported yesterday, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) chairman Norman Bay has his knickers in a twist over getting a demotion by President Trump, who has named another sitting FERC Commissioner, Cheryl LaFleur, to become the chairwoman of FERC (see FERC Commissioner Resigns Threatening Major M-U Pipeline Projects). Bay is leaving in a huff this Friday. His resignation means there will only be two (out of five) Commissioners left until Trump names three new ones. Since FERC Commissioners must be approved by the Senate and since Democrats in the Senate are obstructing Trump’s nominations (sore losers), getting new appointments anytime soon is not in the cards. In the meantime, after this Friday there will not be a quorum–not enough people to vote on important projects like the NEXUS Pipeline and Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline. The oil and gas industry–and employees at FERC–are “unsettled” to say the least. In an effort to calm the storm, Ms. LaFleur was interviewed on FERC’s own Open Access podcast series (transcript below). What did she say? Even with the quorum, important work at the agency will continue–things like hydropower inspections, safety reviews of natgas facilities, audits and other activities. You don’t need Commissioners for that. LaFleur said the three Commissioners are working flat out this week to get as much done as they can before old Norm goes home, taking his marbles with him (our words, not hers). LaFleur is also working, presumably with FERC’s lawyers, on the “potential expansion” of what staffers can and can’t do–expanding their role during the period when there is not a quorum. Apparently there is precedence for doing so. Here’s what she said on the podcast…
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    Why President Trump’s OK of Keystone & DAPL is Good for M-U

    Last week President Trump issued a pair of executive orders meant to speed up approval for the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline projects (see Trump Signs Executives Orders to Restart DAPL, Keystone XL Pipes). We reported that one union in New York State thought such a move may actually help get the Constitution Pipeline project unstuck in the Empire State (see Union Thinks Trump Will be Good for Constitution Pipeline). We kind of chalked up the union’s statements to wishful thinking. But what’s this? A stock market analyst writing on The Street says Trump’s Executive Orders and statements about infrastructure may help a number of Marcellus/Utica projects including the Rover pipeline (Energy Transfer), Northern Access Pipeline (National Fuel Gas), Atlantic Sunrise (Williams), and yes, even the stalled Constitution Pipeline (Williams)…
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    Exclusive: MSC’s Dave Spigelmyer Goes On the Record with MDN

    Dave Spigelmyer

    Last Friday MDN editor Jim Willis had the pleasure of speaking (via phone) with the president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, David Spigelmyer. Some 300 companies make up the membership of the organization–including all of the top exploration & production (E&P) companies and midstream (pipeline) companies operating in our region. Dave himself used to work for Chesapeake Energy once upon a time. He is a Pennsylvania boy, born and bred, and knows the industry inside and out. Dave made time to speak with MDN about a wide range of issues. We should note nothing was “off limits”–Jim asked some tough questions. Below is a transcript of that interview. We tackle topics including the Marcellus industry outlook for 2017, the commodity price of natural gas in our region vs. other locations, the proposed severance tax in PA, various pipeline projects, the Shell cracker, MSC’s lawsuit against DEP Chapter 78a regulations, and the “civil war” between drillers and landowners over the royalty issue. It’s all in there…
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