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Air Products Wins Contract for TX LNG Plant, Marcellus Connection?

This is the kind of story MDN enjoys telling–connecting dots that others haven’t noticed. In broad brush strokes, Air Products announced on Tuesday that they have won the contract to provide two massive liquefied natural gas heat exchangers for Freeport LNG in Freeport, Texas. The heat exchangers will take two years to build and both will be built at their Wilkes-Barre, PA plant. At first blush you may not think there is a connection to the Marcellus/Utica, but there is. Here’s how the Air Products announcement all ties together for the Marcellus Shale (and what you won’t find anywhere else)…
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Successful Open Season Concludes for Marcellus PennEast Pipeline

Barley three weeks ago a consortium of four companies announced a new pipeline project to carry Marcellus Shale gas from Luzerne County in northeastern Pennsylvania to Transco’s Trenton-Woodbury interconnection in New Jersey. The $1 billion PennEast Pipeline will be built by energy utility giant UGI, along with AGL Resources, NJR Pipeline Company (subsidiary of New Jersey Resources) and South Jersey Industries (see 3rd New NEPA Marcellus Pipeline Proposed, Connects to Trenton, NJ). The consortium announced yesterday the successful close of a very fast binding open season–a period of time when potential customers sign on the dotted line to take capacity in the new pipeline. Of course it didn’t hurt that the consortium itself had already reserved nearly half of the 1 billion cubic feet per day capacity for themselves! Still, the other half is now sold out too (a total of 965,000 dekatherms, or 936 million cubic feet, or .936 billion cubic feet)…
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3rd New NEPA Marcellus Pipeline Proposed, Connects to Trenton, NJ

A third new pipeline has been proposed–seriously proposed and already in the planning stages–to carry Marcellus Shale gas from northeastern Pennsylvania all the way to New Jersey. Yesterday a consortium of four companies, including energy utility giant UGI, along with AGL Resources, NJR Pipeline Company (subsidiary of New Jersey Resources) and South Jersey Industries announced the PennEast Pipeline, a 105-mile long, 30” diameter interstate natural gas pipeline. The new pipeline will cost $1 billion to build (providing 2,000+ jobs for seven months) and when finished, carry 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. Here’s the full details for the new project…
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FERC Says “No Significant Impact” from Leidy Southeast Pipeline

Williams is one very important step closer to beginning construction–this fall–on their Transco Leidy Southeast Expansion project. Last fall Williams filed an official application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to proceed with the project, a $610 million project designed to increase the Transco pipeline’s capacity by 525,000 decatherms per day–enough natural gas to serve 2 million homes (see Williams Takes Next Step with Transco Leidy Pipeline Expansion). The expansion will pipe cheap, abundant NEPA Marcellus Shale gas to points from New York City to the southeastern U.S. The project includes construction of approximately 30 miles of additional pipe segments, called loops, in PA and NJ, in addition to modifying some existing compressor stations and valve sites. Earlier this week FERC reported the proposed changes would have “no significant impact” on the environment. What does that mean?…
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Scranton Newspapers “Me Too” Articles on Moxie Energy Power Plant

It’s not often that MDN “breaks news” as in we bring you the story first. But sometimes we do, as we did last Friday when we told you that Moxie Energy is in the hunt for a third Marcellus gas-fired electric generating plant project–this one in Luzerne County (see Moxie Energy in Hunt for Third Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant?). We spotted a very brief mention from a local Wilkes-Barre TV station and sketched out the story for you, providing the background and detail–connecting the dots no one else noticed. So it gives us great pleasure to point out that after we broke the story, both the Scranton Times-Tribune and the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader then picked it up…
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Williams Open House Sheds more Light on Transco Atlantic Sunrise

On Tuesday night Williams held the first of 10 open houses (this one in Luzerne County) on their roadshow to discuss the proposed Atlantic Sunrise Project includes new and reversed pipeline flows for the mighty Transco (see Williams Plans $2.1B Transco Pipeline Expansion, 100% Sold Already). The Transco, built 50 years ago, as always brought gas from the southwest to the northeast. Under Williams’ plan, new pipes will carry gas to the northeast/New England markets, but the vast majority of the existing pipeline will become bidirectional–able to flow gas in either direction–carrying cheap Marcellus Shale gas to southern markets…
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Cabot O&G to Supply NatGas for All of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre

how cool is thatAs we pointed out in January, UGI, a large northeast Pennsylvania utility (and midstream) company persevered against anti-progress, anti-drillers and eventually won and built the Auburn pipeline (see UGI Wins! Auburn Pipeline with Marcellus Gas in NEPA Goes Live). As we pointed out last week, UGI is building two more pipelines that will increase their delivery capacity by another 300 million cubic feet per day–all of it being supplied by Cabot Oil & Gas from Susquehanna County (see UGI Energy Building 2 New Pipelines in NEPA for Cabot O&G).

Now comes word from UGI that by this fall, “most” of the natural gas supplied and used by consumers in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area will be Marcellus Shale gas supplied by those two new pipelines. That means, in essence, that a single company–Cabot Oil & Gas–drilling in a single northeastern PA county–Susquehanna–will be supplying enough gas to meet all of the needs of NEPA’s largest metro area. Very cool. Ever cooler–Cabot has plenty of gas leftover to pipeline to New York, New England and other points in the U.S. and beyond. Behold the miracle of safe, effective and efficient hydraulic fracturing…
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Williams Briefs Luzerne Cty Officials on Transco Atlantic Sunrise

In February Williams announced a $2.1 billion expansion to their Transco natural gas pipeline (see Williams Plans $2.1B Transco Pipeline Expansion, 100% Sold Already). The name of the expansion project is Atlantic Sunrise and if it stays on schedule it will be built starting 2016 and go live in 2017. It aims to, for the first time ever (for the Transco), flow gas from north to south–delivering Marcellus Shale gas to southern markets. The project will expand the Transco pipeline’s capacity by some 20%–the “largest expansion that we’ve done in the Transco system’s history” according to Williams.

Which is all good news–except right on cue NIMBYs (not in my back yard) have already cropped up to oppose it–at least in Lebanon County, PA (see Lebanon Opposition to Williams Transco Pipeline Sunrise Expansion). Williams briefed a a Luzerne County, PA Council committee meeting last night. Seems the folks in Luzerne are a bit more open-minded about the possibilities. Here’s some great insight into the Atlantic Sunrise project and how it will affect Luzerne along its path to making history…
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Small Marcellus Drill Cuttings Company Gobbled Up by Bigger Fish

A small and rapidly growing company–Susquehanna Services, Inc.–uses a special process to safely process and dispose of drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt) from shale drilling in the Marcellus, Utica and Green River (WY) shale plays. The company was founded in 2010 (near Scranton, PA) and it’s been nothing but rapid expansion ever since. The founder and president of Susquehanna Services, John Yarosz, has just realized his American Dream. His company was bought out by a bigger fish: Specialty Waste Operating Partners. Yarosz will stay on as president and continue to run the operation day to day–at least for now.

Here’s the press release announcing the deal:
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NatGas Replaces Coal to Generate Electricity in Steamtown USA

Coal has been a fixture in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area for generations. It is so much a part of the fabric of the community that there is a National Park smack in the middle of downtown Scranton called Steamtown National Historic Site. Railroad engines used to run on coal back in the day–so it figures Scranton was a major nexus for trains–the city was really the coal capital of the northeast. So when natural gas displaced coal at a 50 year-old coal-powered electrical generating plant south of Wilkes-Barre a few years ago, that was interesting and noteworthy. The Hunlock plant was converted to run on natural gas by installing two new turbines. The waste heat from the new turbines now powers the old/original turbine once powered by heat from burning coal. It’s called “combined cycle” electric generation and it’s happening across the United States.

The Obama EPA has demonized coal to the point that electric generating plants are switching (by necessity) to natural gas in large numbers. Hey, *something* has to create electricity–a very small scintilla of electricity comes from so-called alternative sources like wind and solar. Fossil fuels will, for generations to come, bear most of the burden when it comes to creating the electricity that powers your smart phone, lights, and your (*cough*) electric car. That’s the stark reality. The following article is an intriguing look at how utilities convert aging coal-fired electric plants into less-polluting, more efficient natgas-fired plants–in this case plants that run on Marcellus Shale gas…
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Will Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Ever See Marcellus Drilling? Depends

Both Lackawanna and Luzerne counties in northeastern Pennsylvania have been largely drill-less when it comes to the Marcellus Shale bonanza happening all around them. One reason is that both counties are urban–Lackawanna is home to the city of Scranton, and Luzerne home to Scranton’s twin-joined-at-the-hip Wilkes-Barre. However, the bigger reason why there has been no gas drilling is because of the geology under both counties. A few test wells have been drilled in the past–all of them unsuccessful.

Does that mean that all Marcellus drilling in Lackawanna and Luzerne will be barren forevermore? Not necessarily…
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Update on Project Using Marcellus $ to Treat PA Acid Mine Water

Late last year MDN brought you the story of how $1 million of Marcellus Shale Act 13 impact fee money (about to dry up thanks to seven PA litigious townships) was awarded as a grant to help fund a project that will clean up one of PA’s biggest ongoing environmental disasters and the single largest source of pollution for the Chesapeake Bay–acid mine drainage from the Old Forge borehole near Scranton, PA (see Specifics on Marcellus $ Helping to Clean Chesapeake Bay Pollution). Susquehanna Mining Solutions plans to build a plant to strip out the minerals from the water that comes from long-abandoned coal mines.

A quick update on the project:
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More Marcellus Airline Capacity Coming to NEPA from Delta

We recently told you the story of why United Airlines was eliminating a daily flight between Cleveland and Oklahoma City, a move that may have an impact on Utica Shale development (see The Reason United Canceled Daily Flights Between Cleveland & OKC). Here’s a story on the other side of the isle: Delta is increasing the capacity of the jet it runs between the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. They’re going from a small regional 50-seater jet to an Airbus A319 which seats up to 156 passengers.

Some (many?) who work in the gas fields of northeast PA use the Atlanta connection to reach Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, so this good news means there’s more development opportunity for the Marcellus because more people can reach it faster from places like Texas and Oklahoma, where many PA drillers have their headquarters…
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UGI Wins! Auburn Pipeline with Marcellus Gas in NEPA Goes Live

It’s been a loooong uphill battle for utility company UGI with their Auburn Pipeline system, but by persisting, they’ve finally won against staggering odds. We’re happy to report that the Auburn Pipeline is now fully operational and Marcellus gas is flowing through it. The final leg of the Auburn, which connects the Tennessee Gas Pipeline with the Transco pipeline, is now done. Initially UGI proposed a compressor station in Luzerne County, but that was scrapped (see Luddites of Luzerne: UGI Scraps Plan for PA Compressor Station). The compressor was later built in Wyoming County.

Next up was opposition to a simple “gate station” or metering station. Even though another gate station had been in the area for 50 years, UGI still had to battle the forces of anti-drilling to build a new one (see Back to Kindergarten: UGI Explains NatGas Gate Stations). The gate station got built. Once all the court battles were fought, and won, UGI prevailed and the Auburn is now complete, which is very good news for consumers who will benefit from cheap, regionally extracted Marcellus Shale gas…
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Specifics on Marcellus $ Helping to Clean Chesapeake Bay Pollution

A month ago MDN brought you the good news that money raised as part of the Marcellus Shale impact fee in PA is being used to launch a project that is hoped will clean up the single largest source of pollution for the Chesapeake Bay–the Old Forge borehole near Scranton, PA (see Marcellus Drilling Helps Fix Biggest Polluter of Chesapeake Bay). The initial story outlines the high level plan by Susquehanna Mining Solutions LLC to build a treatment plant that will convert acid mine water coming from the borehole (some 60-100 million gallons per day) into clean water for other uses.

The original article was short on specifics. We now have a few of the specifics for how Susquehanna Mining Solutions will perform this miracle. It’s no small task…
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