Although Cove Point LNG Not Yet Operational, Gas Flowing to Plant
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…
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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 
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 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…
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 
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 
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 
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 
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…
Dominion Energy released its second quarter 2017 update and held a conference call yesterday to discuss those results. Dominion is a huge producer and transporter of energy with its fingers in a lot pies. Dominion produces 26,200 megawatts of electricity, owns 15,000 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipelines, and owns 6,600 miles of electric transmission lines. Dominion operates one of the nation’s largest natural gas storage systems with 1 trillion cubic feet of storage capacity. They also are a local utility company, serving more than 6 million customers. Yeah, big company, big deal. However, our interest in Dominion is fairly narrow: They are building an LNG (liquefied natural gas) export facility along the shoreline of Maryland. The Cove Point LNG facility will export 1.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of Marcellus/Utica Shale gas–to India and Japan. On yesterday’s call, Dominion CEO Tom Farrell said Cove Point is “95% done” and “remains on-time and on-budget” to begin operations by the end of this year. That’s great news! The other thing we closely watch with Dominion is the $5 billion, 594-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP)–a natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina. With respect to ACP, Farrell said they’ve already purchased 84% of the materials needed for the project and that it remains “on-track to start construction later this year.” Farrell said the pipeline should be done in the “second half of 2019.” More good news! Here’s the latest from energy giant Dominion Energy…
Two natural gas-fired electric generating plants (and one coal-fired plant) are already up and running in Prince George’s County, Maryland. In 2012 Maryland put out a call for energy companies to produce more power in the state, and three more projects popped up for Prince George’s County (which borders Washington, DC). The areas where the power plants are located is largely rural. According to a Prince George’s County councilman, those five plants “are going to be in the top five largest taxpayers of the county,” providing funds for schools and public safety. We expect much of the natural gas feeding the four natgas plants will come from the Marcellus/Utica region. Most residents like the plants, but there’s always a few who want to make trouble…
In October 2016, Dominion announced a new pipeline project called Eastern Market Access Project (see 