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Reaction For and Against FERC Permission for MVP to Start Up
Yesterday, MDN brought you the great news that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) had given permission to Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) late Tuesday to begin service along the 303-mile natural gas pipeline from northern West Virginia to southern Virginia (see FERC Grants Permission to Mountain Valley Pipeline to Start Flowing). As the reality of MVP coming online sets in, supporters are rejoicing, and irrational antis are bitterly complaining about their loss.
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Wonder of wonders. Yesterday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted its permission for the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to begin flowing natural gas. YES!!!! We are elated! Finally, nine years after MVP filed for permission to build, the pipeline is now (or soon will be) flowing Marcellus/Utica gas to the Southern U.S. This is a great day for all of the Marcellus/Utica.
Is today the day we’ve been waiting and writing about for the past nine years? Possibly! Yesterday, Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), the 303-mile, 2 Bcf/d pipeline from Wetzel County, WV, to Pittsylvania County, VA, filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to say the pipeline is now mechanically complete, meaning the pipeline is in the ground, covered up, fully tested, and ready to begin operations. MVP asked FERC to allow it to begin flowing gas TODAY, June 11. At best, it’s a 50/50 shot that FERC will allow it to begin operations today. No matter. Whether today, tomorrow, or next week, MVP is done and will begin. WE WON!
Well, the bottom dropped out of the rig count last week once again. The national combined oil and gas rig count dropped by six to 594, the lowest it has been since January 2022. The Marcellus/Utica did not go unscathed either, losing two rigs. Pennsylvania lost one rig and now operates 21 rigs. Ohio remained steady with ten active rigs. However, West Virginia lost another rig and now only has five active rigs. One year ago this week, WV operated 13 active rigs. Yuck.
Two weeks ago, 18 new permits were issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica region. Last week, May 27 – June 2, the number increased dramatically by 72% to 31 new permits. Most of the new permits came from two drillers. Range Resources scored the most with 11 new permits spread over two pads in Washington County, PA. EQT received nine new permits for a single pad in Wetzel County, WV. Chesapeake Energy received five new permits, all in Bradford County, PA. In fact, the rest of the new permits were all in PA, which handed out 22 new permits last week — a huge increase over the typical numbers for PA over the past few months.
Newly released information gathered from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request shows that as Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) tested its 303-mile pipeline from Wetzel County, WV, to Pittsylvania County, VA, some 130 potential problem areas were located. Running a PIG (pipeline inspection gauge) device through the pipeline to check for dents and other weaknesses found 50 “anomalies” that required further excavation work to check. Another 80 excavations were needed after tests using an electric current to probe for weaknesses in the pipeline’s special anti-corrosion coating.
Anti-fossil fuelers and some residents with portions of the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) traversing their land are flooding the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) with comments asking the agency to delay permission for MVP to be placed into service. The latest in-service date MVP outlined to FERC in a recent request for startup permission is “early June” (see 
Yeah, the bottom pretty much fell out of the rig count last week, both nationally and for the Marcellus/Utica region. We’re hitting new lows with both counts. For the M-U, Pennsylvania stayed the same with 21 active rigs, but Ohio lost one rig, and West Virginia lost two rigs last week, for a net loss of three — 37 active rigs across the region, the lowest in more than a year. The national rig count hit 600 last week, the lowest it has reached since January 2022. Ugh.
We suppose it was inevitable following a rupture in a segment of the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) during pressurized water testing (see 
In the fall of 2021, President Biden signed into law the so-called Infrastructure bill, some $1.2 trillion in pork barrel spending, passed with the help of turncoat Republicans (see 
The Bidenistas at the EPA attacked coal and gas-fired power plants in April, threatening to destabilize the existing electric power grid with new regulations (see 
Last week, the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count lost another two rigs, down to 603, the lowest the count has been since January of 2022. Since last October, the national count had gone as low as 616 and as high as 629, and that was it — a fairly narrow band. That is, until three weeks when it crashed through the floor and went lower, down to 613. Then, two weeks ago, it was down to 605. And now, it has gone even lower, down to 603. Will we see it go lower than 600?
Hope Gas, a large local utility company, provides gas service to more than 131,000 residential, industrial, and commercial customers in thirty-seven West Virginia counties. The company monitors and maintains over 7,000 miles of pipelines that safely deliver West Virginia natural gas to many homes and commercial and industrial sites. Hope employs over 450 employees, all working in WV. The company has been expanding like crazy, purchasing and integrating five companies over the past year. Yesterday, Hope announced a deal to buy a sixth company — Consumers Gas Utility Company — which will add another 8,500 customers to Hope’s growing natural gas customer base.