Rover Pipeline to FERC: Please OK the Project NOW, by Dec. 31
Rover Pipeline is turning up the heat on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Rover is a $3.7 billion, 711-mile Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline that will run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada. It is a critical piece of sorely needed infrastructure for the Marcellus/Utica industry. In July, FERC issued a favorable final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project (see Big News: FERC Grants Final EIS for ET Rover Pipeline). The only thing left is for FERC to issue the certificate that allows the project to commence. Here’s the problem for Rover: If they don’t begin clearing trees in January, they won’t be able to have the tree-clearing done in time for bat season–when federally-protected Indiana and northern long-eared bats begin to roost in those trees. Rover (indeed all pipeline and drilling companies) can’t harvest trees after March 31. The moratorium on tree-cutting lasts until Oct. 31. So Rover has three months to clear trees, and if they don’t get it done then, the project will get delayed by another full year. So Rover sent a letter to FERC on Friday asking/cajoling/pleading with FERC to issue the certificate. However, Rover is currently on the excrement list at FERC over demolishing an historic house in Ohio without getting “Mother May I?” permission first (see Rover Pipeline in Hot Water Over Demolishing Historic House in OH). We wonder if perhaps that’s one reason why FERC is dragging its feet…
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In September MDN wrote about a new natural gas-fired electric plant being planned for Chesapeake, Virginia (see 
Going all the way back to 2012, MDN has chronicled, from time to time, the myriad press releases issued by a small driller headquartered in Denver called 1st NRG Corp. They’ve been saying since that time that they really really really really want to drill in the Utica Shale–on a small 7,000 acre leasehold they own (
Nuverra Environmental Solutions is one of the largest companies in the United States that handles transportation and disposal of shale drilling wastewater and leftover rock and dirt from drilling. The company has major operations in the Marcellus/Utica region. In January the company, going through tough economic times, was de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange (see 
From the beginning of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s disastrous administration, we have told you the unvarnished truth: Wolf’s call for a high tax on Marcellus Shale gas production is a giveaway, a pay-back, to teachers unions for their support of him in defeating Republican Gov. Tom Corbett (see 
You may recall our story about the daughter of a Huntingdon County, PA landowner, radicalized by Big Green groups (as evidenced by her association with well known protesters previously arrested), who took to a tree on her mom’s property in order to illegally stop crews working on tree clearing for the Mariner East 2 pipeline (see 
The GoMarcellusShale Forum where landowners and others interested in shale drilling hang out and swap messages back and forth was recently updated to become 
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Drilling facts ignored; Pittsburgh law firms adjust to down energy market; PA firms poised to benefit from Shell cracker plant; o&g 2016 year in review; ten things to know about EPA’s final fracking/groundwater report; natural gas price in denial; China’s LNG imports hit record high, again; and more!
Eclipse Resources, a Marcellus/Utica pure play driller headquartered in State College, PA that drills mostly in Ohio, announced yesterday they sold 9,900 net acres in eastern Noble County and western Monroe County, OH for $63.8 million to an undisclosed buyer. That works out to be $6,444 per acre. The assets are in areas that are (currently) undeveloped, according to the company, and not in the “core” of where Eclipse wants to drill. Here’s the company announcement…
As we previously noted, last week the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proceeded with an online auction for BLM-controlled land in Ohio’s Wayne National Forest (see 
Seems like every few weeks we read about yet another pipeline either getting built, or reversed, in order to send Marcellus/Utica gas to other parts of the country. The latest one that surprised us (hadn’t heard of it before) is Kinder Morgan’s plan to add bidirectional capacity to their Kinder Morgan Louisiana pipeline (KMLP) to flow gas to Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass LNG export facility. KMLP is a pipeline in Louisiana–how does reversing it get Marcellus gas to Sabine Pass? As you might have guessed, KMLP connects with other pipeline systems, including Columbia Gulf Transmission and ANR Pipeline. Both of those pipeline systems, which flow Marcellus gas, are adding bidirectional capacity as well. When it’s all done, (more of) our gas will head to Sabine Pass for liquefaction and then export to other countries. How cool is that? Here’s an update on KMLP changing directions…
In a rare sit-down interview, Chesapeake Energy’s CEO, Doug “the ax” Lawler told reporters the company is stable, strong and growing, and that is will not need to file for bankruptcy, as many had predicted would happen. Through hard work (and axing thousands of employees) Chesapeake has managed to cut an astonishing $10.9 billion worth of debt and leverage from its balance sheet. Hats off to Lawler. Total debt for the company has gone from $21 billion to $9 billion. At its height, Chessy employed 13,000 people. Today? Just 3,500 people. Hence our moniker for Lawler of “the ax” (see 
The litigious and environmentally radical Sierra Club, backed by Big Green money from billionaires like Tom Steyer, is attempting to block two important pipeline projects in the Marcellus: Dominion’s $5 billion, 594-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), a natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina; and DTE Energy/Spectra Energy’s NEXUS Pipeline, a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. It’s no secret groups like the Sierra Club have tried to stop such projects. But their latest strategy in opposing these two projects is worthy of examination. The Clubbers are claiming that ACP and NEXUS have an unfair competitive advantage over alternative energy sources, like wind and solar, and therefore should be stopped. That is, the Sierra Club is attempting to use U.S. antitrust laws dating back to the late 1800s in an attempt to claim these pipelines are anti-competitive and therefore should be canceled. Talk about chutzpah…