The very first ship that will load and transport Marcellus LNG from Cove Point is now docked and waiting.
Read More “Ships Line Up for Cove Point LNG – 1st Ship Docked”
In April 2017, MDN brought you the news that Columbia Pipeline (now owned by TransCanada) had filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build a 3.5 mile, 8-inch pipeline that will carry natural gas from Pennsylvania to connect the Mountaineer Gas system in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia with the Columbia Gas Pipeline in Pennsylvania (see New 3.5 Mile Pipeline Project to Drill Under the Potomac River). That tiny section of pipeline is part of the larger Eastern Panhandle Expansion project–a project to deliver natural gas via local distribution channels (local utility Mountaineer Gas) to a new industrial facility in Berkeley County, WV, and to provide gas to other local businesses and residents in the Tri-State area. Anti fossil fuel nutters have been on a rampage to stop the pipeline from going under the Potomac since last summer (see Mountaineer Pipeline Under Potomac Latest Focus of Anti Movement). To hear them talk, you’d think this is the first time a pipeline has been drilled under the Potomac River. However, TransCanada, via its Columbia Pipeline subsidiary, has already built and operates 12 other pipelines that go under the Potomac River–just in the State of Maryland! Have you ever heard a peep about those pipelines and an environmental holocaust they’ve created? No. Why? Because putting a pipeline under a river is no big deal. It doesn’t harm the environment. Yet that’s what antis are claiming and will claim in a protest march today, aimed at pressuring the weak-willed Republican Governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan, into blocking this tiny, 3.5 mile project…
Read More “Antis Pressure Maryland Gov. Hogan to Reject Pipeline Under Potomac”
It’s not often we run across a new pipeline project in our region that we haven’t heard about. But this is one of those days. Last August through October (for 60 days) the Delmarva Pipeline company ran an open house for a 190-mile pipeline that will originate in Rising Sun, Maryland and extend down the Eastern Shore to Accomack, Virginia. We missed the original open season announcement. An open season, for those new to the oil and gas business, is when a pipeline company floats a plan for a pipeline and gets potential customers to agree, contractually, to use the pipeline for the first 10-15 years (or longer) after it’s built. Those signed-on-the-dotted-line contracts give the builder, in this case H4 Capital Partners, confidence to file a plan and proceed with construction. The purpose of the Delmarva Pipeline is to flow natural gas to two rural counties in the southern portion of the Delmarva Peninsula–Somerset County, MD and Accomack County, VA. (Delmarva, for those not along the East Coast, stands for Delaware, Maryland and Virginia–the peninsula where portions of all three states can be found.) H4 Capital Partners has reportedly spent the past four years planning the $1.3 billion pipeline project, and they are now, after a successful open season, ready to file plans with FERC to make it happen. The plan is to get the pipeline built and in-service by late 2020 or early 2021. The reason MDN is interested in this pipeline should be obvious. Although there’s no mention of where the gas will come from to feed this new pipeline, we have zero doubt the gas will come from the Marcellus Shale–making the Delmarva Pipeline an important new demand source for our bountiful supplies of clean burning Marcellus gas…
Read More “New 190-Mile NatGas Pipeline Planned for Delmarva Peninsula”
On Monday, Dominion Energy CEO Tom Farrell reported that the company’s Lusby, Maryland Cove Point LNG export facility will become operational and begin to export LNG in “early March” (see Dominion CEO Says Cove Point LNG Operational in “Early March”). Then yesterday, Dominion issued a press release to say Cove Point has now (as of this week) begun producing LNG! What gives? This “we’re now producing LNG” is part of the commissioning process which began back in December (see Dominion Cove Point LNG Export – Dress Rehearsal Begins). Feed gas is imported and used for testing purposes, and is the final step before the plant goes online into full production. The feed gas came from Shell (sourced from Nigeria), and Shell will take delivery of the LNG that results. When the initial commissioning is done, Marcellus/Utica gas will then begin flowing to the plant and the LNG produced will begin shipping (by “early March”) to Japan and India…
Read More “Dominion Cove Point Begins Producing LNG – for Shell”
Earlier this month MDN brought you news that Dominion’s Cove Point LNG export facility along the shore of Maryland has delayed its official start-up until perhaps as late as April (see Uh-Oh: Cove Point LNG Exports Possibly Delayed Until April). An expert analyst theorized the reason for the delay is to install two flaring systems at the plant (a safety precaution). We still don’t know the exact reason for the delay, but we now have confirmation direct from the top at Dominion, from CEO Tom Farrell, that Cove Point will become operational and begin to export in “early March.” On an analyst phone call yesterday to discuss Dominion’s fourth quarter and full year 2017 results, Farrell had this to say about Cove Point…
Read More “Dominion CEO Says Cove Point LNG Operational in “Early March””
Last week MDN brought you news that Dominion’s Cove Point LNG export facility along the shore of Maryland has delayed its official start-up until perhaps as late as April (see Uh-Oh: Cove Point LNG Exports Possibly Delayed Until April). An expert analyst theorized the reason for the delay is to install two flaring systems at the plant (a safety precaution). So if the plant is not yet started up for commercial operations, why is gas still flowing to the facility? Other experts, at BTU Analytics, have been watching pipeline flow data and maintain the Cove Point facility has been receiving a steady flow of Marcellus gas since last September! No doubt some of the gas flowing to Cove Point is used for testing the equipment. But how can gas continuously flow to the plant if it’s not yet being liquefied and shipped out? We suspect some of the gas can be stored. As for the rest? We don’t know. What we do know, based on a post by BTU Analytics, is that even though Cove Point isn’t receiving the volumes it eventually will receive (3.5 billion cubic feet per day once it is fully up and running), Cove Point is getting a smaller, steady flow now–and (the point of this post), that smaller, steady flow is an important new market for Marcellus gas…
Read More “Although Cove Point LNG Not Yet Operational, Gas Flowing to Plant”
We’ve been waiting, with bated breath, for an announcement from Dominion Energy that their $4 billion LNG export terminal is finally (finally!) up and running and shipping out condensed Marcellus/Utica Shale gas as LNG, heading to Japan and India. In April of last year, Dominion said the plant would be up and running, shipping LNG to India beginning this month (see Dominion Cove Point to Begin LNG Exports to India in Jan 2018). Dominion began priming the pump with an initial load of feed gas in early December (see Dominion Cove Point LNG Export – Dress Rehearsal Begins). But by the end of the month, Dominion signaled a full startup at the facility may be delayed, until an unspecified “early next year” (see Dominion Signals Delay in Cove Point Start-up; Contract Related?). In a blockbuster story, NGI’s Daily Gas Price Index is reporting (based on a super secret source who talked to Bloomberg) that commercial startup of the Cove Point facility will now not happen until (gasp), April of this year. Why the delay? NGI spoke to their own experts who have a plausible theory…
Read More “Uh-Oh: Cove Point LNG Exports Possibly Delayed Until April”
We have to confess, the LNG (liquefied natural gas) world is sometimes confusing for us. The overall theory is pretty simple. Huge plants super-cool natural gas into a liquid state (called liquefaction) and load it onto tankers. The tankers (typically ships, sometimes rail) convey the LNG to a distant port somewhere and it’s unloaded. At the receiving end, the gas is then reheated back into a gaseous state (called regasification). However, the technology that both cools and reheats the gas is complex. Dominion began working on the Cove Point LNG export plant in October 2014 (see Dominion Breaks Ground on Cove Point, MD LNG Export Facility). Cove Point will liquefy 1.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of Marcellus/Utica shale gas and load it onto ships bound for India and Japan. It took something like $4 billion and just over three years, but earlier this month the facility began to accept an initial quantity of gas as part of the “commissioning” process–which we take to mean the shakedown process, make sure everything is working OK (see Dominion Cove Point LNG Export – Dress Rehearsal Begins). Now comes word that a tanker has docked at the Cove Point facility. The tanker is already filled with LNG–from Nigeria. Apparently the Nigerian LNG will get offloaded at Cove Point, which is a bit mysterious for us. Experts say this is a “cool down” cargo, used as part of the commissioning process. We assume, like it’s name, this cargo will “cool down” the equipment that needs to be cooled down in order to begin operations. Like we said, the LNG world is sometimes confusing for us…
Read More “LNG Tanker Docks at Cove Point Terminal – To Offload Nigerian LNG?”
Dominion announced yesterday it has introduced “feed gas” into it’s new $4 billion LNG export plant in Cove Point, Maryland. Feed gas is used for testing purposes and is the final step before the plant goes online into full production later this month. Dominion said the feed gas will come from Shell, and Shell will take delivery of the LNG that results. Following the test, Marcellus/Utica gas will begin flowing to the plant and the LNG produced will begin shipping to Japan and India. We are on the cusp of something we’ve waited for, cheered for, and agonized over for more than three years. Think of the Shell’s feed gas as the dress rehearsal the night before a play opens…
Read More “Dominion Cove Point LNG Export – Dress Rehearsal Begins”
In July 2016 MDN told you about a smallish, but important pipeline project in the Delmarva Peninsula area, which includes most of Delaware and portions of Maryland and Virginia. Eastern Shore Natural Gas’ 2017 System Expansion project will bring new sources of natgas from an interconnection Eastern Shore has with the mighty TETCo (Texas Eastern Company) pipeline near Philadelphia (see PA/MD/DE Pipeline Project Heats Up with Open House Mtgs This Week). The project includes 22.7 miles of new looping pipeline (laid next to existing pipeline) in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware; a 16.9-mile extension to a pipeline in Sussex County, DE; and upgrades to compressor and valve stations. Chesapeake Utilities, the parent company, calls the project the single largest such expansion in Eastern Shore’s history, a project that will bump up gas delivery volumes by 25%. In May the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave the project a glowing environmental review (see Delmarva Pipeline Expansion Gets Positive FERC Enviro Review). A favorable EIS from FERC is typically prelude to a full, final approval. And such is the case with this project. On Wednesday, FERC issued a certificate approving the project–a final approval. The next step will be for Chesapeake Utilities, the parent company building the project, to request FERC permission to start the bulldozers and backhoes…
Read More “FERC Issues Final Approval for Delmarva Pipeline Expansion”
The deep pockets of the radical Big Green group, the Sierra Club, continue to vex the oil and gas industry. The Sierra Club is involved in so many lawsuits against our industry, you literally need a score card to keep track. Three of the cases the Clubbers have on deck come before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in two weeks–on Oct. 18th. The three cases involve Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved LNG export projects. One of the three is Dominion’s Cove Point project, which is due to export its first shipment this month or next (see Cove Point to Begin LNG Exports in October or November!). The other two LNG projects in the Clubbers’ sights are both Cheniere Energy projects–Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi. Sabine Pass is currently the only LNG export plant in operation in the U.S. The Sierra Club lawsuit against all three projects challenges FERC’s approval of them, arguing the plants negatively affect the environment and will make Mom Earth sick. While no one expects these lawsuits to go anywhere, you never know, which is why it’s important to keep an eye on it…
Read More “Sierra Club in Court Oct 18 Against Cove Point, 2 More LNG Plants”
Glory hallelujah! Dominion’s Cove Point LNG export facility along the shoreline of Maryland is on the cusp of starting LNG exports. According to one speaker at a Houston conference, Cove Point will begin shipping in November. Another speaker (from analytics firm Genscape) said they believe the facility will actually begin some shipments in October! In early 2012, MDN began covering the story of Dominion planning to build an LNG facility at a location where they currently operate an import facility, in Calvert County, MD (see Japan Negotiates to Buy Marcellus Gas). We covered the news over the years, from approvals from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Maryland, to lawsuits from the nutty Sierra Club, to everything in between. Here we are 5 1/2 years later and it’s almost upon us–the day when Cove Point begins to ship LNG to Japan and India. Wow! Here’s the exciting news that the facility is gearing up now…
Read More “Cove Point to Begin LNG Exports in October or November!”
Jefferson County, WV has been working for the last 30 years to get natural gas piped into the community. Jefferson is on the cusp of seeing that long-time dream turn into reality–if anti fossil-fuelers in Maryland don’t screw it all up. In April, MDN brought you the news that Columbia Pipeline (now owned by TransCanada) has filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build a 3.5 mile, 8-inch pipeline that will carry natural gas from Pennsylvania to connect the Mountaineer Gas system in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia with the Columbia Gas Pipeline in Pennsylvania (see New 3.5 Mile Pipeline Project to Drill Under the Potomac River). The purpose of the Eastern Panhandle Expansion project is to deliver natural gas via local distribution channels (local utility Mountaineer Gas) to a new industrial facility in Berkeley County, WV, scheduled to open this fall, and to provide gas to other local businesses and residents in the Tri-State area. Most of the proposed pipeline crosses through a tiny sliver of Washington County, Maryland. The main “issue” with the project is that the pipeline will be drilled underneath the Potomac River, which serves as the border between WV and MD. That has radical anti-fossil fuelers in an uproar (see Mountaineer Pipeline Under Potomac Latest Focus of Anti Movement). Here’s a look at the faces of those whose lives will be changed for the good by a short, 3.5 mile pipeline under the Potomac, IF…
Read More “Jefferson County, WV Hopes Hinge on Gas Pipe Under Potomac River”
Must be Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (Republican in Name Only) didn’t read the rest of the memo from his Big Green pals. You may recall Hogan, a first-term Republican, campaigned on a platform of supporting natural gas development in his state and after getting elected, he caved to radical Big Green extremists and signed a law that bans fracking (see Maryland Gov. Hogan Pulls the Trigger, Commits Fracking Suicide). You see, according to Hogan’s Big Green pals, extracting fracked gas is evil. Not only is extracting from the ground bad for the environment–burning it to produce electricity and burning it for fuel is evil too. It’s positively Satanic. Yet last week Hogan attended a ceremony to flip the switch on a brand new electric/heat generating plant at the Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury. That’s right. The new plant uses evil, Satanic fracked natural gas as its fuel! Anyone else see a problem here?…
Read More “Hypocrite Maryland Gov Hogan Throws Switch on NatGas Elec Plant”
Fantastic news to report! Dominion has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to begin flowing feed gas (for testing purposes) to parts of the Cove Point LNG export facility. We are now getting close to startup at the facility, which is supposed to go online in the fourth quarter of this year. Cove Point sits along the coast of Maryland. Dominion began work on the $3.5 billion plant in 2015. When complete, the plant will liquefy and export 1.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of Marcellus/Utica Shale gas to India and Japan. Currently there is only one export facility in the U.S. in operation, along the coast of Louisiana (Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass). That one facility has fundamentally changed the economics of LNG (liquefied natural gas) here at home and around the world. Just imagine what another 1.8 Bcf/d will do! And it’s ALL from our region. Here’s more about the good news that Cove Point is ready to begin testing…
Read More “Dominion Asks FERC to Allow Feed Gas for Testing at Cove Point LNG”
In April, MDN brought you the news that Columbia Pipeline (now owned by TransCanada) has filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build a 3.5 mile, 8-inch pipeline that will carry natural gas from Pennsylvania to connect the Mountaineer Gas system in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia with the Columbia Gas Pipeline in Pennsylvania (see New 3.5 Mile Pipeline Project to Drill Under the Potomac River). The purpose of the Eastern Panhandle Expansion project is to deliver natural gas via local distribution channels (local utility Mountaineer Gas) to a new industrial facility in Berkeley County, WV, scheduled to open in Fall 2017, and to provide gas to other local businesses and residents in the Tri-State area. Most of the proposed pipeline crosses through a tiny sliver of Washington County, Maryland. The main “issue” with the project is that the pipeline will be drilled underneath the Potomac River, which serves as the border between WV and MD. That has radical anti-fossil fuelers in an uproar. As we pointed out in July, the project is in a fight for its life (see WV Fight Over Simple Expansion of Local Gas Delivery Pipeline). Lack of natural gas is strangling expansion in Jefferson County, WV. But that makes no difference to antis in Maryland who are kicking up a fuss and planning to stage a kayak protest in the Potomac. Below is an update on anti efforts to stop the project, and pro efforts to get it approved and built…
Read More “Mountaineer Pipeline Under Potomac Latest Focus of Anti Movement”