Ohio

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    Beck Energy Still Fighting Munroe Falls, Years Later

    Last June MDN shared with you the news that Munroe Falls (Summit County), OH had filed yet another frivolous lawsuit against Beck Energy to prevent drilling–after already losing a similar case before the Ohio Supreme Court (see Munroe Falls Won’t Let it Go: Files New Lawsuit Against Beck Energy). MDN received a statement from Beck Energy’s lawyer which said, among other things: “…the complaint the City of Munroe Falls recently filed lacks any good faith basis under existing law, and it is clear Munroe Falls’ intention in filing this complaint is to harass and maliciously injure Beck Energy” (see Beck Energy Lawyer Responds to Frivilous Munroe Falls Zoning Case). Munroe Falls’ harrasment of Beck Energy has been going on for years (see our list of stories here). Beck counter sued Munroe Falls in this latest case and asked for unspecified damages–meaning the potential for the city to be bankrupted by a big judgment (a very real possibility). Beck has now backed away from the ledge and has dropped some of the counterclaims against Munroe Falls. After all, Beck doesn’t want to bankrupt the good people of Munroe Falls over the illicit actions of its leaders. But there is still “legal wrangling” going on in an effort to end Munroe Falls’ harassment of Beck. Here’s the latest…
    Read More “Beck Energy Still Fighting Munroe Falls, Years Later”

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    Texas Gas Asks FERC for Extra 2 Yrs on Northern Supply Access Proj

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    Texas Gas Transmission (TGT) is a big pipeline network owned and operated by Boardwalk Pipeline Partners. Originally built from the Louisiana Gulf Coast to the upper Midwest, the purpose of the pipeline system was to supply Illinois, Indiana and Ohio with natural gas. Then the Marcellus/Utica Shale happened and TGT needed to change strategies. Through a series of projects, TGT made the pipeline system bidirectional, so it could flow gas from the Marcellus/Utica to points south, going as far as the Gulf Coast. One of the primary projects to accomplish that objective is called the Northern Access Supply Project, which first landed on our radar in Sept. 2015 (see Northern Supply Access Proj. Expands OH to Gulf Pipeline Capacity). Northern Access Supply was authorized by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in March 2016 to “construct a new compressor station in Hamilton County, Ohio and make modifications at eight existing compressor stations in, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana in order to enable Texas Gas to provide an additional 384,000 million British thermal units (“MMBtu”) per day of firm transportation service primarily in a north-to-south direction on Texas Gas’s system while maintaining Texas Gas’s current ability to flow gas south-to-north.” FERC gave TGT two years to get the work done (deadline March 2018). While some of the work has been done, not all of it has–and now TGT is asking for more time–an additional two years (to March 2020) to complete the project. Why? Because one of shippers contracted to use 100,000 MMBtus of that capacity (or 26% of the increased capacity) has filed for bankruptcy and can’t fulfill its commitment. So TGT wants to delay the final work until it has more customers for the other 100,000 MMBtus of capacity…
    Read More “Texas Gas Asks FERC for Extra 2 Yrs on Northern Supply Access Proj”

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    Small Utica-Fired Electric Plant Coming to Ohio State U Campus

    A bit of good news which is sure to drive insane snowflakes on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus over the edge of the cliff. Engie, a multinational electric utility company headquartered in France, recently won a contract to provide energy to Ohio State University for the next 50 (!) years. On the heals of that announcement, Engie has announced a potential plan to build a 60-megawatt Utica gas-fired electric power plant right on the campus of OSU. It will be the first-ever electric plant located on campus. Talk about gall! Doesn’t Engie know that OSU’s precious snowflakes (lib kiddies that hate fossil fuels) will melt?! That their precious sensitivities will be mortally offended? We’re waiting for the storm that’s about to be unleashed with the news of the new plant. Grab some popcorn and enjoy the entertainment…
    Read More “Small Utica-Fired Electric Plant Coming to Ohio State U Campus”

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    OH Injection Well that Caused OH Earthquakes Shutting Down Forever

    In late December 2011 a 4.0 earthquake hit the Youngstown, OH area. It was the latest in a string of quakes that began in March 2011, shortly after a wasterwater injection well went online–the Northstar #1 well. In March 2012 the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) made a determination that indeed, it was the Northstar well that caused the quake–due to its location over an active fault (see ODNR Finds Youngstown Injection Well Caused Earthquakes). When you force liquid of any kind deep into the ground and into a fault (gigantic crack running through the rock layers), that liquid acts like grease allowing the rock layers to slip and slide, causing an earthquake. It’s a rare occurrence, at least in Ohio. Without recounting the entire sordid story, ownership of Northstar #1–originally owned by D&L Energy, whose owner was found guilty of illegal wastewater dumping unrelated to the injection well–the current owner has filed an application to permanently, and for all time, plug and close Northstar #1…
    Read More “OH Injection Well that Caused OH Earthquakes Shutting Down Forever”

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    OH Lawsuit Tries, Fails to Stop Mariner East 2 Pipeline

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    The Mariner East 2 (ME2) Pipeline has always been a story about Pennsylvania. Almost always. ME2 is actually two pipelines, laid side by side, that are meant to carry natural gas liquids (propane and butane) from southwestern Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio all the way across PA to the Philadelphia area–terminating at the Marcus Hook refinery/terminal. Most (not all) of the NGLs are exported to other countries. And therein lies the bone of contention. ME2 was granted status as a public utility and with it, the right to use eminent domain to force landowners to allow the pipeline across their property. Some landowners resisted, and (with help from anti groups) sued, repeatedly, claiming there is no public benefit from NGLs that get exported to other countries. They do have a point. So ME2 built four “off ramps” in PA–points where propane and butane will be purchased and used locally, which helps justify the public utility/eminent domain claim. Until now we’ve always read about lawsuits against ME2 originating in PA, where 95% of the pipeline will be built. However, there was a vigorous challenge to ME2 in Ohio on the same grounds–that ME2 is not in the public interest. That lawsuit argued, among other things, there are no “off ramps” in Ohio where the NGLs will be sold and used. However, a lower court and then an appeals court didn’t buy that argument and ruled against the landowner and in favor of ME2. That case appears dead, but it was appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court (no decision yet on hearing the case). This post will catch you up on the arguments for and against ME2 and its claim to be a public utility with the right of eminent domain in Ohio…
    Read More “OH Lawsuit Tries, Fails to Stop Mariner East 2 Pipeline”

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    Rover Works w/Farmers to Ensure Field Access During Construction

    We previously highlighted a video that shows the massive project underway to construct the Rover Pipeline (see Video of Rover Pipeline’s Massive & Complex Construction in OH). Truly impressive feat of engineering. Rover cuts through a lot of farm land–as evidenced on that video. So what happens when the pipeline is cutting through a farmer’s property, and the farmer needs to drive his tractor and other equipment from one side of the construction to a field on the other side? Out of luck? Screwed? Too bad, so sad? Nope. Rover, like other responsible pipeline companies, is working with farmers to ensure they can get to where they need to go during pipeline construction. In some cases Rover will install “trench plugs” over the trench, and in other cases “timber mats”…
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    How to Apply for one of the 15K Jobs Building the Rover Pipeline

    Last week MDN brought you the news that Energy Transfer’s $3.7 billion, 711-mile Rover Pipeline needs up to 15,000 workers to build it. They currently have ~4,500 workers. And they want to complete the first stage of the pipeline by July (see Help Wanted: 15,000 Workers Needed for Rover Pipeline, STAT!). MDN’s story went viral. It has, so far, been read over 17,000 times on the MDN website–an all-time high for a story less than a week old. The headline and blurb we posted on Facebook has been seen by nearly 72,000 people! The result was that we were flooded with this simple question: Where do I sign up to work on the pipeline? The answer, unfortunately, is not straightforward. We reached out to Energy Transfer multiple times and got less-than-satisfactory answers. Energy Transfer’s answer to the question is this: If you are a contractor or want to try your hand at becoming a contractor, you can try applying via Rover’s contractor online application process (here). However, most people are not interested in that route. They just want to sign up and begin working. For those folks, Rover responded, “Rover is committed to utilizing Union labor 100% for this project. Laborers looking for work, can contact their local union halls.” No help with identifying those local union halls. It is a sort of “you’re on your own” kind of response. Which strikes us as odd. Does Energy Transfer really want to complete this project on time? Could they at least provide a list of the “local union halls” for folks to contact? Apparently not. So we will…
    Read More “How to Apply for one of the 15K Jobs Building the Rover Pipeline”

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    OFS Co. Danos Moves Pittsburgh Office to Ohio, Expands in Utica

    Some 70 years ago Allen Danos Sr., a descendant of south Louisiana farmers, borrowed $2,000 to start a small tugboat company with his brother-in-law. The small business grew and expanded into the oil and gas business, attracting customers like Gulf Oil (which later became Chevron). Over the years Danos has continued to grow. Today it is an oilfield services company (OFS) servicing some of the world’s largest drillers with coating, construction, environmental, fabrication, instrumentation and electrical, production workforce, project management, consulting and more. Danos is still headquartered in Louisiana (with multiple offices in that state), but also with major offices in Texas–and in the Marcellus/Utica region. Danos is expanding in our region, opening a new facility in Martins Ferry, OH. They’ve also decided to close the Canonsburg, PA office and merge it into the Martins Ferry office. Here’s the announcement…
    Read More “OFS Co. Danos Moves Pittsburgh Office to Ohio, Expands in Utica”

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    Baker Hughes March Rig Counts: Rocket Ride Continues, U.S. Up 45

    The Baker Hughes rig count in the U.S. continued to rocket skyward in March. In January the average number of U.S. rigs was 683. In February, the count zoomed to 744, up 61 rigs in just a month. And in March, the U.S. rig count zoomed to 789, up another 45 rigs in a month. Each active rig translates into hundreds of jobs, both directly working at the rig and indirectly in services delivered to the rig and its workers. It also means more landowners will soon have royalty payments heading in their direction. When rigs are active, life is good. What about rig counts in the Marcellus/Utica? Disappointingly our region’s rig count lost a rig in March. PA lost two rigs, OH gained a rig, and WV stayed even. What does it all mean? It means that this zooming up in rig counts is happening in other locations–primarily in the Permian Basin in Texas. That is, oil rigs rushing to take advantage of an increase crude prices to a sustained $50+/barrel. While we’re happy the rig count is up, we’re not happy more it is not happening in the northeast. But honestly, without pipelines to take away an increase in production, can you blame our drillers? Once there is more takeaway capacity, you’ll see rig counts begin to climb again in our neck of the woods…
    Read More “Baker Hughes March Rig Counts: Rocket Ride Continues, U.S. Up 45”

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    UTOPIA East Pipe Re-Routes Around OH Antis, Drops Eminent Domain

    In January 2016, Kinder Morgan committed to building the UTOPIA (Utica To Ontario Pipeline Access) pipeline, a 12-inch ethane pipeline that will run ~240 miles across the state of Ohio where it will connect with another pipeline and (eventually) flow ethane all the way to a cracker plant in Canada (see Kinder Morgan Ready to Move Forward with UTOPIA East Pipeline). However, all was not utopia in UTOPIA–some Ohio landowners got a bumble bee in their bonnet and refused to deal, so KM took them to court (see UTOPIA Pipeline Sues Holdout OH Landowners Using Eminent Domain and UTOPIA Pipeline Still Battling OH Landowners with Eminent Domain). UTOPIA hit a brick wall in Wood County when a judge blocked the use of eminent domain in that county, saying the project does not benefit the public good (see Wood County OH Judge Blocks Eminent Domain for UTOPIA Pipeline). No worries. UTOPIA has been hard at work and has signed lease agreements with more reasonable landowners and is altering the route to avoid the ones who don’t want it. Hey, some people don’t want a truckload of money, who are we to argue? As we previously reported, tree clearing began in February (see Utopia has Arrived! Construction in OH Begins on Ethane Pipeline). KM says construction on the actual pipeline will begin later this month. Here’s the latest, about UTOPIA changing the route in Wood County to avoid those who don’t want it…
    Read More “UTOPIA East Pipe Re-Routes Around OH Antis, Drops Eminent Domain”

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    Expensive Nuke Plants in OH, PA Launch Attack on Cheaper NatGas

    Nuclear power plants, which are heavily regulated, can no longer compete in the free and open market–so they’ve decided to seek new laws to protect their revenue stream. That is, they hope to use laws to do what they can’t do in the free marketplace–force electric ratepayers to fund their more expensive source of electricity, and erect barriers for natural gas-fired electric plants (i.e. “re-regulation” of the electric industry). It’s sleazy and disgusting, but it’s happening. The nuke lobby has been successful in places where there’s corruption–like New York and Illinois. Now the nuke lobby is trying it in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Will they fall next?…
    Read More “Expensive Nuke Plants in OH, PA Launch Attack on Cheaper NatGas”

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    Help Wanted: 15,000 Workers Needed for Rover Pipeline, STAT!

    [4/7/17 UPDATE: Since publishing this post, MDN has been flooded with calls and emails asking, “Where do I apply for a Rover job?” After reaching out to Rover numerous times, what we have learned is that Rover is using contractors, and union labor. There is no HR office at Rover to accept job applications. Job seekers must either find a job with a local contractor already working with Rover, or by heading down to the local union hall to see if they can help. MDN plans to publish another article next week with more details and strategies on finding a Rover Pipeline job. Stay tuned.]

    Some really big news coming from the Utica Upstream conference held Wednesday at Walsh University (in North Canton, OH). As we previously reported, Rover Pipeline got permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to begin construction on March 3rd (see FERC Green Lights Rover Pipeline Construction). And construction began, immediately. A local TV station recently did a flyover of one area where construction is happening, and the video is an awesome sight (see Video of Rover Pipeline’s Massive & Complex Construction in OH). Operating all of those bulldozers and backhoes, driving trucks, shoveling dirt, moving material from Point A to Point B–takes people. A LOT of people. So far Rover has hired 4,500 workers–but they need 15,000! And they need them NOW, as soon as possible, stat. What happens if they don’t get enough workers? They won’t make their deadline of completing the first phase of the Rover project by July 1st. What stands in the way of hiring another 10,000+ workers? In a word, drugs. Rover can’t find enough warm bodies who can pass a drug test, which is a sad commentary on society today…
    Read More “Help Wanted: 15,000 Workers Needed for Rover Pipeline, STAT!”

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    Eclipse Resources Touts Big ROI on Long Horizontal Shale Wells

    Pardon me, but may I ask, How long is your lateral? We don’t mean to ask such a personal question, but in this case, size matters. You see, the longer the lateral, the more return on investment (ROI) you get–according to top officials from Eclipse Resources. Eclipse Resources, a Marcellus/Utica pure play driller headquartered in State College, PA that drills mostly in Ohio, fielded top officials at two different events this week to talk about the company’s drilling program–and their impressively long laterals. MDN editor Jim Willis heard Eclipse CEO Benjamin W. Hulburt at the Oil & Gas Investment Symposia (OGIS) in New York on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Eclipse’s vice president of drilling, Oleg Tolmachev, appeared at the Utica Upstream conference at Walsh University in North Canton. They both hit on a theme that struck a chord with us–namely, that by drilling longer lateral Utica wells, the company is drastically lowering the cost per foot of drilling–and by doing so, they raise the ROI, making their shale wells more profitable than their competitors’…
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    Anti Rover Pipe Leader Admits True Motive: Fossil Fuel Hatred

    Isn’t it refreshing when those who oppose something, like fracking, or pipelines, are just honest about their true “heart of hearts” motivation? We’ve made the case for years that charlatans like Josh Fox (of Gasland infamy) attempt to manipulate public opinion through the use of lies–like “fracking pollutes water” and “pipelines explode.” They attempt to smear fundamentally safe practices like fracking through the use of innuendo, supposition and lies. What is their true motivation? They oppose fossil fuels. They believe, in a rather kindergartenish way, that solar and wind and so-called renewable energy sources are superior–and if you don’t want to pay the high price of those sources, well, they want to FORCE you to accept it. But we’re not Stalinist Russia–yet. They can’t just enforce their will on the public. So they have to convince enough of the public to believe their lies that politicians will follow suit and pass laws to strip away more of our freedoms (see Maryland Gov. Hogan Pulls the Trigger, Commits Fracking Suicide for the latest example). So when someone comes along, like Lea Harper from the FreshWater Accountability Project, and admits openly and without reservation that she (our words) hates fossil fuels, what she calls “extreme energy extraction,” well, we find it refreshing. We don’t have to dance around all of the side issues and lies normally pedaled by the opposition–we can then talk about the the real issue, which is the superiority and goodness of fossil fuels vs. alternatives…
    Read More “Anti Rover Pipe Leader Admits True Motive: Fossil Fuel Hatred”

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    Overraction by Antis to Unfelt Earthquake in Monroe County, OH

    Early Sunday morning there was a low-level earthquake in Monroe County, OH–that literally nobody felt–but was picked up on seismic monitors by the U.S. Geological Survey. There was, according to the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) one fracking operation “near” the earthquake that ODNR shut down within an hour after the event–out of an abundance of caution. Immediately several radical anti-drilling groups, including the Ohio Environmental Council and the Sierra Club, jumped on the news and declared fracking unsafe and too risky in the nearby Wayne National Forest. With zero proof that it was tied to either fracking or wastewater injection wells. Here’s the news, and the way the news is being distorted by antis…
    Read More “Overraction by Antis to Unfelt Earthquake in Monroe County, OH”

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    More on Gas-Fired Elec Plant Coming to Center Port Terminal

    A few weeks ago MDN reported on an upcoming meeting (to be held March 27) in Monroe County, OH to announce a new project to build a 485-megawatt Utica gas-fired electric plant (see Gas-Fired Plant (& Cracker?) Coming to Center Port Terminal in OH). The rumors circulating were that this plant may get built to power a new, mini-cracker plant in the region. MDN reader and friend Charles Winslow, owner of The Wells Inn in Sistersville, WV, attended the March 27 and reports a question came up at the meeting about the purpose for the power plant. The answer? According to the people building the project, they plan to sell the electricity on the open market–to the regional electric grid. No hidden motives in powering a mini-cracker. Charles filed this excellent report…
    Read More “More on Gas-Fired Elec Plant Coming to Center Port Terminal”