Spectra’s Access Northeast Pipe Wins Important Approval in Maine
In July 2014 Spectra Energy unveiled plans to deliver an extra 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day to New England and beyond by expanding the existing Algonquin and Maritimes pipeline systems (see Spectra Energy to the Rescue! New England Pipeline Expansion). That project was eventually named the Access Northeast Project, a direct competitor to Kinder Morgan’s proposed Northeast Energy Direct (NED) project. In February of 2015 we observed and asked the question, is Spectra’s project pulling ahead of Kinder Morgan’s project (see Access Northeast Pipeline — Pulling Ahead of Kinder’s NED Project?). It was our observation at the time that Kinder Morgan’s project is mostly “greenfield”–meaning they have to dig new trenches and lay new pipe in places where no pipeline currently exists–was vehemently opposed by antis, while Spectra’s project which lays new loops of pipe next to existing pipes in existing trenches was opposed, but with less vehemence. It seems our observation was prescient, as Kinder later canceled its project (see NED is Dead – Kinder Morgan Suspends $3.3B New England Pipeline). Make no mistake, Spectra Energy still faces a steep uphill battle–but they are making progress. Evidence of that came yesterday when regulators in the state of Maine approved Spectra’s plan in their state. Or more accurately, they approved passing along some of the cost of Spectra’s proposed expansion to Maine electric rate payers, who would see far lower electric rates if the pipeline gets built (it will feed natgas-fired electric generating plants in the state)…
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Yesterday the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) released an updated version of an online GIS (i.e. mapping) application that allows users to learn information and download reports about oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania. The DEP also released a new video tutorial (embedded below) that explains how to use the 
When will anti-fossil fuel madness that seems to spread like the Zika virus begin to subside? Anti-fossil fuel madness is just as destructive as Zika for those it infects. Take the case of the proposed merger/buyout of Piedmont Natural Gas by utility powerhouse Duke Energy for $6.7 billion (see 
Events related to drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shale, primarily pro-drilling.
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Ohio State U breaks ground on $3M CNG fueling station; Mark Cuban invests in o&g tech; energy security should be a bipartisan issue (but isn’t); Energy Transfer’s midstream & liquids business; US LNG first through expanded Panama Canal.
A pair of companies operating in the Marcellus Shale announced late last week that they are laying off a collective 175 jobs in West Virginia between them . Energy Corporation of America (ECA), which ranked 20th for most production in the Marcellus Shale in 2015 according to NGI’s 
FirstEnergy is one of the nation’s largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York. FirstEnergy loves the shale industry. In April, MDN reported that FirstEnergy’s construction crews had begun erecting steel poles for a new 18-mile high voltage power line that will run through Harrison and Doddridge counties in WV (see 
A year ago MDN told you about a new gathering pipeline project in Butler County, PA. Rex Energy contracted with Stonehenge Energy Resources to build a gathering system in Butler County (see 
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has sided with landowners in a dispute with Shell’s shale drilling arm, called SWEPI (Shell Western Exploration Production Inc.). SWEPI signed a lease with two landowners who own a collective 1,036 acres in Lycoming County. SWEPI promised a $4,000 per acre signing bonus, but a few months after signing SWEPI decided they didn’t want the acreage after all and tried to cancel the lease and the bonus payment. The judge ordered SWEPI to pay $2,072,000 to each of the two landowner families…
Some interesting Marcellus-related items were included in the recently adopted Pennsylvania state budget that have largely flown under the radar. There are also a few things that weren’t in the budget bill–previously intended to be part of it–that didn’t survive the process. At the top of the list is lack of a severance tax. But right behind that (for us) is that a gross receipts tax on natural gas use, which we thought would be part of the final deal, was not. As MDN previously reported, a gross receipts tax taxes end users of natural gas, in essence targeting low-income households (see 
In what appears to be a new standard operating procedure, Eclipse Resources yesterday released their second quarter 2016 operating update, delaying the release of the “bad news” (i.e. financial update) until a later date. A few days Antero Resources and Gulfport both did the same thing. Drillers like to brag about increasing production, but hate to talk about how much money (at least on paper) they’re losing. We understand. Eclipse is a Marcellus/Utica pure play driller headquartered in State College, PA that drills mostly in Ohio. What do we learn? Eclipse’s production went up 19% in 2Q16 over 2Q15. Previously the company had stopped all drilling, but they resumed again in 2Q16 (a good sign) and ended up drilling and completing 2 Utica wells during the quarter. Here’s the operational (not financial) update from Eclipse for 2Q16…