Just coming to light for us now, on April 18 Texas Eastern Transmission Company (TETCO), a massive 9,071-mile natural gas pipeline stretching from the Gulf Coast to New York City, filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to replace and upgrade two compressor units at its Bernville Compressor Station located in Berks County, PA.
Read More “TETCO Files FERC Request to Upgrade 2 SEPA Compressor Units”
Yesterday Sempra Energy’s Cameron LNG project in Lake Charles, La. began to liquefy and export natural gas–some of it coming from the Marcellus/Utica region. Nearly a month ago the facility asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for permission to begin full-blown operation (see Cameron LNG Export Plant Ready to Begin Operation This Week). FERC issued that permission shortly thereafter. We’re guessing there was some sort of technical issue that caused a delay until now. The good news is that the facility is now up and running…with our gas.
Read More “Gulf Coast Cameron LNG Exporting Begins Service…with M-U Gas”
Kinder Morgan, the largest pipeline company in the U.S., has left a string of broken promises about the date for which the first Elba Island LNG export plant “mini-train” would begin producing and shipping LNG. We’ve chronicled the journey extensively. According to an official update from KM in July, Elba was “in advanced stages of the commissioning and start up process, including LNG production” (see KM Says Elba Island in “Advanced Stage” of Commissioning/Startup). Very quietly, on Friday, Aug. 9, KM sought permission from FERC to begin operations on the first mini-train, asking to start no later than Friday, Aug. 16. Did it happen?
Read More “KM’s Elba Island Train #1 Now Producing LNG for Export?”
Our friends at RBN Energy are beginning a new mini-series of blog posts delving into Marcellus/Utica gas processing and fractionation in the wet gas region–meaning southwest PA, eastern OH, and the northern panhandle of WV. Cryogenic gas processing plants separate methane (CH4) from the other carbon compounds in the stream, namely from NGLs (natural gas liquids). Fractionation further separates the NGLs into “purity products”–things like ethane, propane, normal butane, iso-butane and natural gasoline.
Read More “Overview of Gas Processing & Fractionation in M-U Wet Gas Region”
Our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), published a post yesterday looking at natural gas deliveries to U.S. LNG export facilities. The post finds that in July gas flows to LNG export facilities hit a new record high of 6.0 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). That’s an incredible 7% of all the natural gas produced in the U.S.
Read More “Gas Flowing to U.S. LNG Export Plants Hits Record High – 6 Bcf/d”
If Jeff Bezos (Amazon CEO) and Tim Cook (Apple CEO) jump off a cliff, should you, as CEO of an energy company, jump off too? The CEOs of ExxonMobil, Chevron, Marathon Petroleum and several other big oil and gas companies have just answered that question in the affirmative. Splat. Perhaps they were caught up in the euphoria of the moment. Perhaps they were shamed. (A new disorder for the DSM V: “CEO shaming.”) For whatever reason, a group of CEOs from some of the largest U.S. companies now say the people who buy their company’s stock and fund them via infusions of investment capital are no longer the #1 priority for their companies. We wonder what investors in those companies think. Have they had a change of heart? “Here, take my money and pee it away with no returns. Please! I don’t need this money any more.” Hey Jeff and Tim, we have a bridge in Brooklyn we’d like to sell ya…
Read More “Top Energy CEOs Skate on Thin Ice by Turning Against Shareholders”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Officials call for safe, secure closure of bankrupt Philadelphia refinery; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Cheniere Energy extends contract for CEO Jack Fusco; NATIONAL: There is no credible way to transport oil and natural gas without pipelines; U.S. energy policy must support natural gas in Appalachia and West Texas; Natural gas production hits new all-time high, further worsening the medium-term outlook; Big Wind’s big headwinds; States push 1st Circ. to revive suit over EPA ‘expert purge’.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Aug 20, 2019”
Last Thursday morning at 6:30 am Blue Racer Midstream’s Natrium (Marshall County, WV) natural gas processing plant received a phoned-in bomb threat. Plant personnel immediately contacted law enforcement (local, state and federal) who swept the plant with bomb-sniffing dogs. Nothing was found.
Read More “Bomb Threat at Blue Racer’s WV Natrium Plant – Nothing Found”
For years MDN has observed that Cabot Oil & Gas is one of the few Marcellus/Utica drilling companies that can “spin straw into gold”–meaning it makes money on selling natural gas even when the price of that gas is in the basement (see Marcellus Driller Cabot Oil & Gas: Wall Street’s NatGas “Unicorn”). The new management at EQT aim to turn their company in a spinning-straw-into-gold company too. In a recent interview with the Pittsburgh Business Times, EQT CEO Toby Rice said his strategy for making $500 million in “free cash flow” within two years anticipates the price of natgas to be $2 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf).
Read More “EQT Plans to Make Money with $2/Mcf NatGas Price”
Some 77 miles of PennEast Pipeline’s $1 billion, 120-mile primarily 36-inch underground pipeline is slated to run through Pennsylvania. The rest runs through New Jersey. In February of this year the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) published draft versions of Erosion and Sediment Control Permits for the project. Just one teeny tiny problem: The DEP screwed up the application number in their official posting in the PA Bulletin. So the DEP has just republished their intent to issue the permits–very soon–in the latest PA Bulletin.
Read More “PA DEP Close to Issuing Final Permits for PennEast Pipe”
On August 1, Enbridge’s Texas Eastern Pipeline Company (TETCO) pipeline exploded in Lincoln County, Kentucky–killing one and sending six to the hospital (see TETCO Pipe Explodes in Kentucky Killing 1; Southbound M-U Gas Stops). Actually TETCO operates three pipelines in that area, all located next to each other and collectively called TETCO. Line 15 is where the explosion occurred, but Lines 10 and 25 (located next to Line 15) remain offline until further notice (see 3 TETCO Pipelines in KY Closed Indefinitely, Feds Order Repairs). TETCO is hoping to return one of the three lines to service later this week.
Read More “Enbridge Wants to Bring TETCO Pipe in KY Back Online Aug 24-26”
There is currently no construction happening along the 600-mile Dominion Energy Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project due to several lawsuits brought by disgusting Big Green groups that have blocked the path of the pipeline (see Dominion 2Q Update: The Battle to Build Atlantic Coast Pipe). Even though there is no current construction happening, a federal agency has just sent a “warning letter” to the builders citing violations of certain “unsafe construction practices at work sites”–related to work done last December.
Read More “PHMSA Issues Warning to Atlantic Coast Pipeline – 7 Months Late”
Last November Encino Acquisition Partners (i.e. Encino Energy) completed its purchase of all of Chesapeake Energy’s Ohio Utica Shale assets for $2 billion (see Stop Press: Chesapeake Sells ALL of its Ohio Utica Assets for $2B). The deal included all of Chesapeake’s 933,000 Ohio acres–with 320,000 net Utica acres–and 920 operated and non-operated Ohio Utica wells.
Read More “U.S. Senator from Ohio Visits Encino Well Pad to Promote Jobs”
There’s an issue that has been building up steam for the past year or two. We’ve commented on it peripherally on a number of occasions. There’s no mistaking the newest “in thing” for young (and old) liberals is to trash the production of plastic. Plastic straws are killing little fishies in the deep blue sea. Plastic bags are filling up our landfills and endangering Mom Earth. California (land of the strange) now has its sights set on banning all plastic bottles. Radical environmentalists are now advocating that we ban the production and manufacture of all plastic products!
Read More “The Latest Irrational Anti Rant: Plastic is Evil & Must End”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: EQT among world’s fastest-growing natural gas producers; Pa. grants $2M for solar tech at PGW’s liquefied natural gas plant; Group that wants Ohio voters to decide on nuclear plants bailout submits revised petition; The latest victims of the far-left’s environmental zealotry: Long Islanders; De Blasio exaggerates fossil fuel claims on the campaign trail; NTIEC Energy Camp sparks interest among local students; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Minnesota, D.C., and Baltimore under the microscope for accepting controversial help from special interests; Colorado is quickly becoming a patchwork of oil and gas rules after a major law change; NATIONAL: Unit trains now delivering U.S. propane to Mexico; INTERNATIONAL: Yamal LNG hits 20 mt milestone; BP publishes LNG contract templates to push industry standardization; U.S. efforts to derail Russian pipelines to Europe have failed since the 1960s. Will Nord Stream 2 be different?
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Mon, Aug 19, 2019”
In 2017 a group of Ohio landowners did what others had previously done in Pennsylvania, Texas and elsewhere–they filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Chesapeake Energy claiming Chessy had screwed them and about 1,000 other Ohio landowners out of a collective $30 million in royalty payments (see OH Landowners File Royalty Class Action Lawsuit Against Chesapeake).
Read More “Fed Court OKs OH Class Action Royalty Lawsuit Against Cheseapeake”