MVP Prompts New Pipe Expansions for Hungry Downstream Customers
With the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) now in construction high gear to finish the final 6% of the project, the question becomes can and how will an extra 2 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day) of Marcellus/Utica gas make it to the end of the pipeline, and from there, onward to other destinations in the Southeast? The short answer is yes; there’s certainly enough demand for an extra 2 Bcf/d of gas. The longer answer is that it will take time to ramp up to the point a full 2 Bcf/d is being transported and sold. If MVP comes online by the end of this year, it’s doubtful a full 2 Bcf/d will flow. Not because of supply issues–there are plenty of customers, and the pipeline has contracts to fill it to capacity. And not because of technical issues–the pipeline is rated for a full 2 Bcf/d. More gas won’t flow initially because connecting pipelines on the other end currently can’t handle the extra 2 Bcf/d that will come at them. Right now, there’s not enough capacity on other pipelines, which means when MVP begins to flow, it may be flowing only one-third of its rated capacity of 2 Bcf/d.
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It’s getting even uglier out there. For the sixth week in a row and the 15th of the last 16 weeks, the U.S. active rig count lost rigs. A lot of rigs. Last week the number decreased by a whopping 12 rigs after falling by five rigs per week for the three weeks prior. The total is now down to 642 active rigs across both oil and gas. Sadly, the Marcellus/Utica dropped three rigs last week (after losing two the week before) for a combined M-U rig count of 40–the lowest this year. Last week Pennsylvania picked up two rigs after losing two the week before, but the additions in PA came at the expense of Ohio (lost 2 rigs) and West Virginia (lost 3 rigs).
Last week we told you about a new $2 billion hydrogen project coming to West Virginia (see 
Yesterday we told you the liars of the left are doing their best to sew disinformation and fear about Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and the installation of the remaining 6% of the pipeline that’s not already in the ground (see 
Looks like the three Democrat judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (4th Circuit) value their own jobs more than defeating the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project. On Friday, the three-judge panel that has opposed MVP in just about every decision they’ve issued since 2018 dismissed the remaining two cases against MVP after being overruled by the U.S. Supreme Court two weeks ago (see 
Even though the radicalized left has been defeated in their attempts to block the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project, they won’t go quietly (they never do). The liars of the left are trying to plant seeds of fear and doubt in the residents of West Virginia and Virginia that as soon as the remaining 6% of MVP pipe is buried in the ground and begins to flow, a piece of that newly installed pipeline will blow up because the pipe has been sitting above ground for years and the special epoxy coating that prevents corrosion has degraded by sitting in the sun. Yet another lie from the left.
In May, the Bidenistas at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a hellscape of new regulations (681 pages) aimed at forcing coal- and natural gas-fired power plants to close (see 
One year ago, we reported the sad (and angering) news that U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, a liberal Democrat from West Virginia, had betrayed his WV constituents and the entire country by secretly cutting a deal to vote for Joe Biden’s New Green Deal bill repackaged under the false and misleading name of the Inflation Reduction Act (see 
For the fourth week in a row and the 13th time in the last 14 weeks, the U.S. active rig count lost rigs. It’s grueling. Last week the number decreased by five rigs after falling five rigs the week before–now down to 659 active rigs across both oil and gas. The Marcellus dropped one rig (in Pennsylvania) for a combined M-U rig count of 45–the lowest this year. Some 14 weeks ago, the M-U lost four rigs (going from 53 down to 49). Seven weeks ago, we lost another rig, down to 48. Last week we lost two more down to 46, and this week another. The trend is not our friend.
West Virginia’s state budget runs from July 1 through the following year’s June 30. WV’s General Revenue collections for July 2023, the first month of Fiscal Year 2024, came in at a respectable $7.7 million above estimates, with total collections of $335 million. However, that $335 million collected is 12% lower than the $381 million collected in July 2022. What seems to be a major difference is a crash in severance tax (on coal and natural gas) collections, down some 93% year over year.
Equitrans Midstream issued its second quarter update yesterday, and WOW, what an update! The company had lots to talk about following the high drama surrounding its Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project over the past couple of months. Equitrans CEO Tom Karam said following the U.S. Supreme Court’s intervention, construction has now resumed on MVP and will likely take 4-5 months to finish up the 94% completed project. He expects MVP, barring any severe weather issues that might slow construction, will be online and flowing 2 Bcf/d of Marcellus/Utica molecules by the end of this year. Hallelujah!
The West Virginia State Legislature passed House Bill (HB) 2581 on the last day of the annual WV legislative session in April 2021. HB 2581 required the State Tax Commissioner to develop a revised methodology to value oil and natural gas properties for the purpose of assessing property taxes. The State Tax Department submitted an emergency rule in the summer of 2021 that was, quite frankly, a mess. In March 2022, the legislature passed, and Gov. Jim Justice signed into law, House Bill (HB) 4336, aimed at fixing the mess created by HB 2581 (see 
Last week, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (liberal Democrat from West Virginia) hopped up on his high horse and held a hearing of the Senate committee he chairs, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, to discuss the next steps for so-called permitting reform. It takes years to build a new pipeline, and sometimes decades to build a new electric power line. Solar and wind and hydro projects are as susceptible to long delays as fossil energy projects. Manchin (many people in the D.C. swamp) want to “fix” that problem.
In an act of Supreme justice, the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Roberts, issued an order yesterday overturning the stays imposed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (4th Circuit) that were blocking the completion of the 94% done Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). Let the bulldozers start their engines! We expect work to resume immediately (today) to finish this critical link from the Marcellus/Utica to the Southeastern U.S. The best part is that the decision was announced as the three radicalized leftist judges of the 4th Circuit were hearing arguments that a portion of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2023 forcing the completion of MVP is unconstitutional. Roberts’ order effectively shut down any further shenanigans by these three clowns.
Better late than never. Last week U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (liberal Democrat from West Virginia) filed an amicus curiae “friend of the court” brief with the U.S. Supreme Court to show his support for Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) in its fight against the actions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (see