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    FERC Approves WB Xpress Pipeline Across WV, VA

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Friday granted final approval for Columbia’s WB Xpress pipeline project. In Jan. 2016, Columbia Pipeline Group (now owned by TransCanada) filed a full, official application with FERC for the $850 million WB XPress Project (see Columbia Pipeline Files to Build $850M WB XPress Project in WV/VA). WB XPress consists of two new compressor stations, 26 miles of pipeline replacement located along existing corridors (11.6 miles of it in Monongahela National Forest), and 2.9 miles of new pipeline in Virginia and West Virginia. The WB XPress Project will expand capacity of the Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline system in the region by 1.3 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), linking Marcellus gas supplies to new markets. FERC issued a favorable environmental assessment for the project in March of this year (see FERC Gives Columbia WB XPress Enviro Thumbs Up). In September, the U.S. Forest Service gave their blessing (see WB XPress Pipeline Gets Important USDA Approval for Natl Forest). And now the fat lady has sung: FERC has issued a final approval for the project, meaning the next step is for construction to begin…
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    NFG and NY DEC Go At It in Federal Court Over Pipeline Rejection

    Last week lawyers for National Fuel Gas Company and the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) were in federal court doing battle over the DEC’s arbitrary and capricious rejection of an important Marcellus pipeline project. Three years ago NFG proposed and filed to build the Northern Access Pipeline project–a $455 million project includes building 97 miles of new pipeline along a power line corridor from northwestern Pennsylvania up to Erie County, NY. The project also calls for 3 miles of new pipeline further up, in Niagara County, along with a new compressor station in the Town of Pendleton. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted final approval for the project in February of this year (see NFG’s Northern Access Pipe in NY/PA Gets FERC Approval). However, in April of this year, the DEC ruled against granting the project stream crossing permits, effectively killing it, at least for now (see Cuomo’s Corrupt NY DEC Blocks NFG Northern Access Pipeline Permit). In April, NFG sued the DEC in the Second Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals to overturn the denial (see NFG Sues NY DEC in Fed Court re Northern Access Pipe Rejection). That case was argued last week before a panel of three judges from the Second Circuit…
    Read More “NFG and NY DEC Go At It in Federal Court Over Pipeline Rejection”

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    Sunoco Continues to Rack Up ME2 Drilling Mud Spill Violations

    Sunoco Logistics Partners (part of and owned by Energy Transfer Partners) has had its fair share of “inadvertent returns” (i.e. leaks of drilling mud) while drilling underground for the Mariner East 2 pipeline project that stretches across the width of Pennsylvania. Some would say Sunoco has had more than its fair share of mud spills. Bear in mind that drilling mud is otherwise known as bentonite–the nontoxic clay mixture used to cool the drill bit as it chews away underground. Bentonite is the same chemical compound used to make kitty litter, toothpaste and all sorts of cosmetics. It’s totally safe for the environment–unless you spill a lot of it and smother little critters like salamanders and fishies. When installing a pipeline, you don’t just dig a trench across a roadway or dam up a creek or river. Instead, you use horizontal directional drilling (HDD) to dig under it. ME2 is some 350 miles long, so there are a number of places where HDD must be used. There are always small drilling mud spills, or inadvertent returns, associated with HDD work. However, Sunoco has had, at last count, 96 such instances (see the list below). Antis seek to make the most of each and everyone spill episode. The most recent such spill is associated with a sink hole believe caused by HDD drilling in Delaware County last week (see ME2 Drilling in Delaware Co. Creates Small Sinkhole, Antis Swarm). The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) sent a notice of violation for last week’s mud spill (see it below). DEP officials admit they are somewhat overwhelmed with trying to keep an eye on the project and are considering “additional enforcement” actions against Sunoco LP for ME2…
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    Paid Agitators Shut Down Traffic at Energy Co Offices Near Pittsburgh

    One of the crazies protesting in front of Southpointe

    Hey, it’s Thanksgiving break, woo hoo! Time for brainwashed college kids to break the law and claim they’re doing their civic duty by shutting down traffic in front of “evil” companies that are part of the Marcellus industry. A lawless mob of perhaps two dozen maleducated young people along with some old hippies (most of whom were from out-of-state, i.e. paid agitators) set up roadblocks and other elaborate structures in front of the Southpointe business park in Washington County, PA, near Pittsburgh. A variety of Marcellus-related companies have offices in Southpointe, including Range Resources, CONSOL Energy, Halliburton, and Chesapeake Energy. The malcontents’ complaint? They have a psychological disorder in which they irrationally hate fossil fuels, and by extension, those who extract and sell them. Even though the clothes on their bodies and the sneakers on their feet come from fossil fuels. And even though they woke up in homes and apartments heated by fossil fuels. And even though they arrived at the protest in vehicles powered by fossil fuels. And even though the signs they made and carried were made from fossil fuels. Yeah, totally nutso. The lawlessness went on for about four hours before local police finally ejected the last of the nutters. They had a chance to make their statement and disrupt legitimate, salary-paying and valued businesses for a while, all in the name of anarchy and mob rule–driven by abject hatred. We often wonder if this is how it felt during the rise of the Nazi Party in the 1920s…
    Read More “Paid Agitators Shut Down Traffic at Energy Co Offices Near Pittsburgh”

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    Sierra Club Withdraws Federal Lawsuit to Stop NEXUS Pipeline

    The uber-litigious Sierra Club and it’s vaunted stable of attorneys have been caught with their pants down–legally speaking. One of the (many) pipelines the Clubbers oppose is NEXUS, a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. NEXUS got final approval for the project from FERC in August (see New FERC Quorum Votes Final Approval for NEXUS Pipeline). The Ohio EPA granted a water permit for the project in September (see Ohio EPA Grants Water Permit to NEXUS Pipe, “Learned” from Rover). Seeing the NEXUS freight train moving on down the tracks, the Clubbers filed a request for “rehearing” with FERC in September (see CORNballs, Sierra Club Continue to Fight NEXUS Pipeline in Court). Before anyone can sue to stop a federal pipeline project, the first step is to request a rehearing. If FERC delays or rejects a rehearing request, the “aggrieved” party can then launch a lawsuit in federal Appeals Court. And that’s what the Sierra Club did last week. They filed a lawsuit against NEXUS in the Federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, asking the court to force FERC to conduct a new review of the project, and in the meantime, shut it all down (see Sierra Club Files Federal Lawsuit to Stop NEXUS Pipeline). There’s just one teeny tiny problem: The landowner the Clubbers was using as their excuse to file the lawsuit recently sold his property to NEXUS. Oops. Now the Clubbers don’t have a reason to sue, so with tail between legs, they withdrew the lawsuit yesterday…
    Read More “Sierra Club Withdraws Federal Lawsuit to Stop NEXUS Pipeline”

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    NY Idiots Demand Cuomo Stop Burning All Fossil Fuels by 2030

    A small group of people whose bubble isn’t in the center of the level staged a “protest” on Saturday in Long Beach, NY (Nassau County), nominally against the Williams Rockaway Delivery Lateral pipeline project. The Rockaway project adds 3.2 miles of new Transco pipeline and related facilities in New York, from the Marine Parkway Bridge in Far Rockaway to offshore in the Atlantic Ocean. The protesters’ stated reason for opposing the project? Not because it may disturb underwater ecosystems. Not because it would temporarily disrupt the lives of those living nearby during construction. Not because of fears over water contamination. No. The stated reason is, “for the end to burning fossil fuels” and because they want NY state “to convert to renewable energy by 2030.” It is, literally, an impossibility to end the use of fossil fuels within the next 100 years. But these idiots refuse to use logic and reason. So now they’re targeting a minuscule 3 mile pipeline in an effort to vent their irrational rage. Meanwhile, up the Hudson in Westchester County, a different small group of nutters also gathered on Saturday to vent their rage for the same reason (anti-fossil fuel extremism), except the focus of their rage is Spectra Energy’s Atlantic Bridge Pipeline project…
    Read More “NY Idiots Demand Cuomo Stop Burning All Fossil Fuels by 2030”

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    Massive Electricity Shortage Coming in New York City, Long Island

    We spotted a rather long and (to us) convoluted article about an experiment a New York City-area utility is conducting. National Grid (electric and gas utility) and their software partner AutoGrid are going to “use the latest demand response technology from the electricity world for natural gas.” That is, they are going to use software hooked to hardware to control how much natural gas is used by (so far) 16 customers signed up for the service. Supposedly it will work out bottlenecks in delivering natgas to customers–somehow reducing the amount of gas used overall. And that’s where our understanding falls down. How can you use software to use less gas–unless you are forcing someone’s thermostat to be turned down? We don’t get it. But supposedly this is the latest and greatest in technology. What did catch our attention in the article was a short passage about the coming electricity shortage NY faces because we lack natural gas pipeline infrastructure to fire gas generating plants. Specifically, New York and Long Island will soon face massive electricity shortages–unless utilities figure out how to force customers to lower their thermostats so they can use the gas to generate electricity…
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    How U.S. Shale Changed the World Geopolitcally

    American shale has fundamentally transformed the world geopolitically. How? Just think about. #1 – Saudi Arabia and Iran are on the brink of all-out war. For decades Saudia Arabia has been the world’s leading oil producing country. Iran has been in the top five oil producing counties. #2 – Venezuela, the country with the world’s largest oil reserves, is rumored to have defaulted on its foreign debt. Either situation, #1 or #2, hint at the potential for the flow of oil to be disrupted. Both happening at the same time is an oil cataclysm. A decade ago such news would have resulted in oil hitting $100, perhaps even $150 per barrel. The price of gas at the pump would have soared, overnight, to more than $5/gallon. Yet what has happened to the price of oil with this recent geopolitical news? Nothing. If anything, the price has gone down! The only reason oil prices are not through the roof is because of the abundance of American shale oil. An occasional guest blogger here on MDN is Daniel Markind, a partner with law firm Weir & Partners. Dan recently sent along what we consider masterful insight into how shale energy has literally changed the world. As a bonus, Dan asks a probing and relevant question of those who want to stop the use of all fossil fuels…
    Read More “How U.S. Shale Changed the World Geopolitcally”

  • Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Nov 21, 2017

    The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Keystone XL pipeline gets Nebraska’s approval, what’s next; Commerce Dept. finds 6 countries “dumping” cheap pipe in U.S.; EIA reports first gas withdrawal of the season; EIA, IEA overstate oil supplies from shale?; structural changes to the energy business; a new US-China relationship on the horizon; Ineos first to deliver US shale to China; and more!
    Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Nov 21, 2017”

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    PA Class Action Royalty Lawsuit Against XTO Settles for $11M

    A journey which began for Pennsylvania landowners in Butler County, PA in July 2015 is nearing an end. Two Butler County, PA landowners with a combined 245.7 acres of land leased to XTO Energy sued XTO in 2015 claiming that XTO is breaking the lease agreement by paying royalties below 1/8 of what XTO receives in revenue for the gas (see PA Landowners Sue XTO Energy for Shorting Them on Royalties). The case, known as Marburger et al V. XTO Energy Inc., asserted the lease signed with landowners did not include language that would allow XTO to deduct post-production charges (that they had been deducting). The two landowning families that launched the lawsuit, the Marburgers and the Thieles, sought to turn the lawsuit into a class action, involving potentially hundreds or thousands of others. It didn’t take long for XTO to oppose the lawsuit and its certification as a class action (see XTO Files Motion to Dismiss Royalty Lawsuit in Butler County, PA). Since that time we’ve not heard much of anything about the lawsuit. And then out the blue comes word that via arbitration, XTO has agreed to settle the lawsuit. The settlement includes turning it into a class action, and paying out a total of $11,010,000. As part of the settlement, XTO admits to nothing. That is, they do not concede the plantiffs have a valid case against them. It’s simply cheaper to settle it and move on rather than to keep fighting. Below we have the relevant court documents with the details of the settlement…
    Read More “PA Class Action Royalty Lawsuit Against XTO Settles for $11M”

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    Smith Twp Votes Down Plan to Expand MAX Bulger Marcellus Landfill

    In a disappointing development, the supervisors of Smith Township (Washington County), PA have voted to turn down MAX Environmental’s request to expand the Bulger landfill they operate in the town (see Marcellus Landfill in Washington Co. Seeks to Expand, Add TENORM). One of the primary customers for the landfill over the past 10 years has been the Marcellus industry–dumping drill cuttings (leftover dirt and rock from drilling) at the landfill. MAX intends to ask the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection for a permit to expand the Bulger facility by 21 acres. They also want to begin accepting technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials, or TENORM, from shale drillers. The first stop is, however, is to get local approval. The DEP wants to see local approval before they consider a state approval. Until now, the word coming from the supervisors is that they were duty-bound to approve the request, as long as “reasonable conditions” were made in the request. The town held several public hearings about the project. Apparently some local loudmouths got to the supervisors and spooked them. At a meeting last Thursday night the supervisors voted 3-0 against approving the request. MAX said they will wait to get the official document, expected today, before deciding on whether or not to litigate (an almost certainty)…
    Read More “Smith Twp Votes Down Plan to Expand MAX Bulger Marcellus Landfill”

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    USFS Approves Atlantic Coast Pipeline Thru 2 National Forests

    In January 2016 the Obama U.S. Forest Service (USFS) turned down a request from Dominion’s $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina, to pass through two different national forests (see US Forest Service Blocks Atlantic Coast Pipeline in National Forests). USFS refused to grant Dominion a special permit to cross teeny tiny sections of the Monongahela National Forest (MNF) and George Washington National Forest (GWNF) in West Virginia and Virginia respectively. Why? Because of concerns about cow knob salamanders, northern flying squirrels and red spruce trees. Dominion and ACP bent over backwards, forwards and sideways to avoid running through cow nob salamander territory (see Dominion Files Pipeline Route Change to Avoid Salamanders, Swamp). But in the end, the Obamadroids at USFS didn’t like Dominion or their plan. However, there’s a new administration in office now. And with the new administration, USFS has reconsidered and last week granted ACP approval to traverse those teeny tiny sections of MNF and GWNF…
    Read More “USFS Approves Atlantic Coast Pipeline Thru 2 National Forests”

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    Rice Energy CEO Dan Rice Gets $2.6M Golden Parachute from EQT

    The golden parachute has popped open for Rice Energy’s former CEO, Dan Rice IV. And it’s worth $2.6 million. EQT filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week to say that Dan Rice IV has been terminated (as an employee) as of the day the two companies merged. In a deal worked out prior to the merger, Dan is getting a check for $2.6 million–$1.91 million as a severance payment and $704,000 in lieu of his annual bonus. Which frankly doesn’t sound like a whole lot, given Dan was one of the shareholding owners of Rice Energy. His salary in 2016 was $3.35 million. But don’t shed any tears for Dan. We suspect his stock in the newly-merged EQT is worth a fortune. And Dan gets a seat on the EQT board of directors, a gig that will pay him. What’s next for Dan and the other Rice boys? We don’t have the particulars for all of the Rice boys, but we do know (from the SEC filing) that Dan signed a 3-year non-compete agreement, so we won’t see Rice Energy II in the northeast for at least three years. Other than that, we suspect the boys already have something up their proverbial sleeve. The Rice boys don’t strike us as the lounge-around-the-pool types…
    Read More “Rice Energy CEO Dan Rice Gets $2.6M Golden Parachute from EQT”

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    FERC Allows Rover to Use HDD in 4 More Locations, Incl Ohio River

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last Thursday granted Rover Pipeline permission to resume horizontal directional drilling (HDD) at four more locations where it had been stopped. One of those locations is drilling under the Ohio River in the Majorsville area. Rover is a $3.7 billion, 711-mile natural gas pipeline that (will eventually) run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and on to Canada. A large portion of the pipeline began flowing natural gas on Sept. 1st (see Big Portion of Rover Pipeline Now Up & Running – Thru Most of Ohio). Since then, Phase 1A of the pipeline has steadily increased its throughput and now flows over 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of Utica/Marcellus Shale gas to Defiance, OH (see Rover Pipe Nearly Doubles Flow with Addition of Carroll, OH Compressor). However, it could flow more, if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) would allow Rover to finish Phase 1B pipeline work in OH/WV to feed more gas to the main part of the pipeline. The problem is that Rover had early missteps, the most serious of which spilled 2 million gallons of non-toxic drilling mud in a swamp (i.e. “wetland”) near the Tuscarawas River back in April (see Rover Pipeline Accident Spills ~2M Gal. Drilling Mud in OH Swamp). Following that and several other mishaps, FERC shut down all Rover HDD work–for months. Gradually FERC has allowed Rover to resume HDD work, and with this latest round of four more HDD locations, it appears to us that only two HDD locations remain on the “do not drill yet” list, one of them being the Tuscarawas River location…
    Read More “FERC Allows Rover to Use HDD in 4 More Locations, Incl Ohio River”

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    Atlantic Sunrise Pipe Begins Work in Northumberland County, PA

    Good news for Northumberland County: Atlantic Sunrise is rising in your neighborhood. Work on the $3 billion, 198-mile natural gas pipeline project that will run through 10 Pennsylvania counties to connect Marcellus Shale natural gas from northeastern PA with the Williams’ Transco pipeline in southern Lancaster County has begun in Northumberland County. Last week a Williams subcontractor working on that portion of the project gave a tour to a local newspaper. Atlantic Sunrise will pass through approximately 10 miles of Northumberland County, entering from Columbia County and exiting to Schuylkill County. So far, “Everything seems to be going really well” according to the contractor in charge of that portion of the project. They expect to begin welding pipes together by the end of this month…
    Read More “Atlantic Sunrise Pipe Begins Work in Northumberland County, PA”

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    5 More Protesters Arrested in Lancaster Co. Blocking Pipeline Work

    Five more members of the nutty Lancaster Against Pipelines group have been arrested, including a minor. It’s bad enough putting your own life at risk. We consider it child abuse to put your child’s life in danger by sitting the kid down in front of heavy equipment–in a deluded attempt to stop construction. Just last week we told you about three old ladies who did the same thing (see 3 Old Ladies Cause 3 Hr Delay in Atlantic Sunrise Construction). The latest five were arrested in the same general vicinity as the three old ladies–Martic Township. The five were arrested for sitting down in front of a working backhoe. No doubt they were imagining old Captain Planet episodes in their minds as they did so. You know, the Saturday morning cartoon from decades ago where defenseless kids go up against evil big corporations whose only goal is to destroy Mom Earth? All’s lost until the kids combine their “powers” and magically transform into Captain Planet (Planet…Planet…Planet). Did you hear that echo? At any rate, this latest small group didn’t hold up the works as long as the old ladies did, which is good. The grand total of protesters arrested now stands at 45–quite a few less than the “over a thousand” who supposedly had signed up to sacrifice themselves in front of pipeline construction equipment, according to the leaders of Lancaster Against Pipelines…
    Read More “5 More Protesters Arrested in Lancaster Co. Blocking Pipeline Work”