Rover Update: Half of 15K Workers Now Hired, 2% Pipeline Laid
Two weeks 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. At the time, it was reported 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 18,000 times on the MDN website–a new record for an MDN story just two weeks old. The headline and blurb we posted on Facebook has been seen by over 75,000 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. 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. So MDN provided a list (see How to Apply for one of the 15K Jobs Building the Rover Pipeline). Perhaps MDN had a hand in a flood of new recruits, because as of a construction report filed by Rover with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission earlier this week, they now have 7,570 people working on the pipeline. It’s an interesting update (full copy below). Rover includes a table for how much of each phase the pipeline is complete. Tree felling? 100% done. Tree clearing? For the mainline, 51% done. How much of the main pipeline is now laid and ready for welding? Just 2%. Also interesting is a brief note that back on April 7, there was a small spill of bentonite drilling mud into a swap…
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In May 2016, MDN told you that the Penn Township (in Westmoreland County, PA) zoning board voted to refuse to grant a permit to Apex Energy to build a DEP-permitted well pad in the town (see 
The issue of returning mineral rights to surface owners has long been an issue we’ve tracked on MDN–for Ohio. In Ohio, the issue revolves around legislation called the Dormant Minerals Act (DMA). In September 2016, the OH Supreme Court ruled in three DMA cases, saying all of the other cases come under those three (see 
Yesterday Pennsylvania officials converged on Cambria County to unveil what is the first of 29 total CNG (compressed natural gas) fueling facilities that are being built in a public/private partnership for PA’s public bus transit fleet. Beginning this year and stretching through 2021, Trillium CNG will build and operate a total of 29 CNG fueling stations around the state. PA is paying Trillium, which is a subsidiary of Loves Travel Stops (see 
As MDN told you last November, Patterson-UTI Energy, an oilfield services company with major operations in the northeast, is buying out and merging in Seventy Seven Energy (SSE) in an all-stock deal worth $1.76 billion (see 
In November 2015, MDN told you about Pilgrim Pipeline Holdings, developing an East Coast pipeline to carry refined petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, heating oil, and jet and aviation fuel northbound from Linden, New Jersey to Albany, New York (178 miles). In addition, a second Pilgrim pipeline will carry crude oil from Albany south to NJ and other locations. Two pipelines, side by side, different liquids flowing through them in different directions (see 
Earth Day is the day Big Green has a collective orgasm over Mom Earth and their efforts to keep her clean. We have no issue with responsible stewardship of our natural resources and keeping the environment clean. Everyone (with a brain) aspires to that. We do have a problem with worshiping the creation instead of the Creator. Worshiping the earth is what Earth Day is all about. Each year it gets more nutty than the last. It was with some glee we noticed that our friends at Energy in Depth have done their own bit for Earth Day–by compiling a list of scientific studies that prove fracking has been good for cleaning up the environment. It’s true! We’re not joking. Because of fracking, and because of the growing use of natural gas, our air is cleaner. Fracking and horizontal drilling has resulted in fewer drilling locations dotting the landscape–prettier to look at, and healthier for the environment. There’s a fair amount of fake science floating around out there, funded by anti-drilling organizations. EID has compiled a list of real science studies. Have a look…
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Exxon gets backing of GOP states in fight over climate probe; regulators, enviros clash in court over southeast pipe projects; why Exxon is giving shale a long leash; natgas generators make up biggest share of electric capacity; blue states may be green, but they have really expensive electric rates; 1/3 of natgas burned in Canada used to produce oil; India’s natgas imports rise; fracking sweeps China; and more!
We suppose it was bound to happen, but fervently wish it hadn’t. In the process of drilling underneath the Tuscarawas River (in Stark County) one week ago, on April 13, Rover workers experienced an “inadvertent return” of “horizontal directional drilling fluid.” That is, they sprung a leak and spilled nearly 2 million gallons of drilling fluid. Not, thank God, into the Tuscarawas River, but into a swamp (i.e. “wetland”) next to the river. Fortunately the primary component of said drilling fluid is nontoxic bentonite–the same ingredient used to make shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste and kitty litter. We’ve covered other such nontoxic spills in the past (
Sheesh, it seems like we just got done yesterday with reporting quarterly earnings/operations updates. And here we are again. Like the old Dunkin Donuts commercial where the guy who makes the donuts runs into himself coming and going making the donuts. First out of the gate in the Marcellus/Utica is Gulfport Energy, reporting their first quarter 2017 numbers. And the numbers for Gulfport look pretty darned good–at least operationally. Gulfport didn’t report their financials yesterday. On the operations front, production zoomed up 23% to 849.6 million cubic feet equivalent (MMcfe) per day in 1Q17 vs 1Q16–the vast majority of which came from the Utica Shale. The other interesting news is that Gulfport realized an average sale price of $3.98 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) for the gas they sold. Below is the update along with a recent PowerPoint slide deck with some great slides…
In January 2016, Invenergy announced their intention to build a natgas-powered electric plant in Elizabeth Township, in Allegheny County (see 
Researchers from the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at Penn State have just published a new study/paper in the Journal of Environmental Management titled, “Linear infrastructure drives habitat conversion and forest fragmentation associated with Marcellus shale gas development in a forested landscape” (abstract below). Their thesis: “Fragmentation of ecologically important core forests within the northern Appalachians — driven by pipeline and access road construction — is the major threat posed by shale-gas development, according to researchers, who recommend a change in infrastructure-siting policies to head off loss of this critical habitat.” This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about the hazards of so-called forest fragmentation. Back in 2013 the U.S. Geological Survey published a meme on it too (see