EQT & NextEra Tie the Knot on WV-VA Pipeline Joint Venture
There’s a big difference between nonbinding and binding–as in open seasons. When a pipeline company wants to see if they can get any interest for building a pipeline (which involves millions of dollars of investment, sometimes billions) they start with a “nonbinding” open season. Think of it as an elaborate marketing exercise in lead generation. If the company gets good vibes from the nonbinding open season, they then move to a binding open season. It’s one thing to say “Yeah, we’ll use X capacity on that pipeline if you build it.” It’s a whole other thing to sign on the dotted line, committing to a binding contract for the next 10-20 years. It is a huge financial commitment. EQT and their joint venture partner NextEra Energy announced a new pipeline project in June. The 330-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline project would run from Wetzel County, WV to Pittsylvania County, VA (see EQT Announces New Marcellus/Utica Pipeline to Southeastern US). EQT announced yesterday the previous nonbinding open season changed to binding, an important change…
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The previously announced ethane cracker plant that is slated to be built near Parkersburg, WV is coming along very nicely, according to Odebrecht spokesman David Peebles. A talk at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Meeting and Business Summit at The Greenbrier last week, along with conversations with the Parkersburg News and Sentinel, provided some key details about just where the project sits. Once again MDN notices how quickly (and convincingly) the Odebrecht cracker project is progressing after being announced just last fall, as opposed to the ponderous path being taken by Shell with their planned cracker plant, announced 2 1/2 years ago. Neither plant is a done deal, yet. But in light of Odebrecht’s full-speed-ahead attitude and news from last week, it sure seems like the WV cracker is a lot closer to being a done deal than the Shell cracker…
Here comes the next media smear campaign. This time the meme is “You know that lie we’ve been telling about how shale drilling contaminates water wells? Well it was true all along. Here’s the proof!” Case in point: The Associate Press has a single, breathless story of a new list just released by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) of 243 water wells “contaminated” by Marcellus Shale drilling. We’ve included the list below. These 243 are wells DEP officials believe have been affected by shale drilling after conducting an investigation. Some of the cases are still under investigation but included on the list because the DEP thinks they were likely contaminated by drilling. Is this the smoking gun? Is Marcellus drilling a threat to water after all? As always, MDN is here to provide some much needed perspective…