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    Update on Adelphia Gateway – Converting Oil Pipeline to Flow NatGas

    Adelphia Pipeline route – click for larger version

    One year ago, in November 2017, MDN shared the exciting news that an old oil pipeline stretching from Northampton County, PA through Bucks, Montgomery, and Chester counties, terminating in Delaware County at Marcus Hook, had been purchased by a subsidiary of New Jersey Resources and will get converted to flow Marcellus natural gas to the greater Philadelphia region (see Oil Pipeline Near Philly to be Converted to Flow Fracked NatGas). The project/pipeline is called the Adelphia Gateway. In January of this year, NJ Resources filed an official application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to convert the existing pipeline to flow natural gas, and add various facilities, like meter stations and a compressor station (see Adelphia Gateway Pipeline Near Philly Files with FERC). The compressor station is planned for a residential neighborhood in Bucks County. The neighbors are most definitely not happy.
    Read More “Update on Adelphia Gateway – Converting Oil Pipeline to Flow NatGas”

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    Norfolk Pipeline Foes Pay Former NTSB Execs to Bash Project

    Source: The Virginian-Pilot (click for larger version)

    We previously brought you news about Virginia Natural Gas’ (VNG) “Southside Connector” project, a 9-mile pipeline from Norfolk, VA to Chesapeake, VA that VNG says will fill a gap between two main supply lines, essential to meet growing natural gas demand in the Chesapeake area. The final 2,000 feet of pipeline needs to be installed under a river and shipyard located on the bank of a river. The shipyard owner adamantly opposes the pipeline and has launched an all-out campaign to stop it (see The Fight to Install Last 9 Miles of 200-Mile Pipeline in VA Beach). The shipyard owner and foes of the project recently paid to get support from the former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
    Read More “Norfolk Pipeline Foes Pay Former NTSB Execs to Bash Project”

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    Dominion Hires FBI Division Chief as Chief Security Officer

    Security at energy companies is no longer an afterthought, no longer an annual “audit” that’s done to ensure you have good policies in place. It’s now something that must be actively managed day-to-day. Threats come in all sizes and types, from nutty pipeline protesters who tip over into violence, to Russian and Chinese hackers looking to screw with our electric grid and steal our secrets. Knowing this, Dominion Energy, a huge company with its fingers in many energy pies–from pipelines to electric generation (wind, solar, natural gas, nuclear) to local electric and gas delivery (utility company)–has just hired the former FBI division chief for Richmond, Va. as its new Chief Security Officer–a newly created role in the company. Our prediction: You’ll see more CSOs in the future.
    Read More “Dominion Hires FBI Division Chief as Chief Security Officer”

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    This Thanksgiving, We Thank Fossil Fuels

    Happy Thanksgiving! MDN is taking both Thanksgiving Thursday and Black Friday off. While you’re taking time to be thankful for your friends, family, food, drinks, and other luxuries, take a moment to say THANK YOU to the resources that make this holiday so wonderful: fossil fuels! Below is a new video from our friends at Clear Energy Alliance. Watch it (under 4 minutes) to learn just how much oil, natural gas, and coal bring to the table during the holiday season–and every other day of the year.
    Read More “This Thanksgiving, We Thank Fossil Fuels”

  • Energy Stories of Interest: Wed, Nov 21, 2018

    The “best of the rest”–stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading: Construction manager gives update on Shell cracker plant in Beaver County; Gas power plants fuel PA economy; Buy natural gas producers to play the dramatic rally in natgas prices; Gov. Charlie Baker proposes legislation on natural gas safety practices; BC pipeline outage disrupts western U.S. winter gas prices and flows.
    Read More “Energy Stories of Interest: Wed, Nov 21, 2018”

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    NC Republicans Hounding Dem Gov for Approving Atlantic Coast Pipe

    There is a political mess brewing in North Carolina–a mess that has made for some strange bedfellows. Rabid anti-fossil fuelers are supporting Republicans in a bid to target NC’s Democrat governor because his administration granted a permit for Dominion Energy’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) in the state. We first reported on this developing situation back in September (see Weird: NC Republicans Target Dem Gov for Supporting M-U Pipeline). The situation revolves around a special fund set up by Gov. Roy Cooper, some $57.8 million paid by Dominion, to be used for environmental reclamation projects. Republicans say it’s a slush fund and, using the power of the state legislature, they wrested control of the fund away from Cooper and gave the money away to schools. But Republicans aren’t content to let the matter rest. They now want an investigation into Cooper and the fund and how it got set up. If they’re not careful, they may end up un-approving the permit for the pipeline.
    Read More “NC Republicans Hounding Dem Gov for Approving Atlantic Coast Pipe”

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    Was NY Gov. Cuomo’s Fast-Track Approval of Gas-Fired Plant Legal?

    In reading through the story we share below, we feel dirty. Like we need a shower. New York State is deeply, deeply corrupt–at the highest levels. As in Gov. Andrew Cuomo. And every now and again, that corruption spreads to otherwise good projects, like converting a small coal-fired electric plant to burn natural gas. The Greenidge Generation power station in Yates County, located along the shoreline of Seneca Lake in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of upstate NY, is one such a project caught in the web of Cuomo’s corruption. Originally built in the 1930s, the operator of the plant, Atlas Holdings, wanted to convert it from burning coal to burning natural gas. After paying $120,000 to Andrew Cuomo’s campaign for reelection and more than $500,000 in payments to lobbyists, Atlas got a “fast track” approval and certain environmental exemptions from the Cuomo Administration. It’s a worthy project and should have been approved without such payoffs, but the project couldn’t get approved otherwise. Here’s the sordid story.
    Read More “Was NY Gov. Cuomo’s Fast-Track Approval of Gas-Fired Plant Legal?”

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    Penn State Finds Chemical Clues to Marcellus Methane Migration

    Dr. Terry Engelder

    One of the ongoing issues used (misused) by those opposed to shale drilling is “methane migration”–the claim that drilling a shale well has led to, due to improper casing, widespread methane leaks getting into nearby water supplies. That was the claim made by Josh Fox in the fake documentary Gasland about Dimock, PA. The thing about methane migration is that most of the time it’s fixable. The other thing is that in a high number of cases, it’s not methane migrating from a shale well, but rather it’s naturally occurring leaks. Which makes sense. You drill shale wells where there’s a lot of methane! But how can you tell the difference between naturally occurring methane migration and methane migrating because of shale well activity? Some sharp researchers at Penn State University, including the “father of the Marcellus,” Dr. Terry Engelder, have just published a research study that can help.
    Read More “Penn State Finds Chemical Clues to Marcellus Methane Migration”

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    Ohio State Study Looks at 2 New Microbes in Shale Wells

    Marinobacter

    Over the past several years MDN has highlighted important research performed by Ohio State University with respect microbes (bacteria) living in shale wells. In a 2016 study, researchers dubbed a never-before-seen bacterial “lifeform” found in a Utica Shale well, Frackibacter. Having some fun, we labeled it a different name: Frackenstein (see Frackenstein! Researchers Find New Life Form in Fracked Utica Wells). The researchers kept at it and published another study along the same lines in 2017 (see Ohio State Research Finds Microbes in Utica Well May be Corrosive). Researchers said a different bacteria studied that appeared in multiple Utica wells (called Halanaerobium) may be a cause for concern, possibly corrosive to pipes and cement and toxic for workers. OSU researchers have kept at it and we now have a brand new study, titled “Members of Marinobacter and Arcobacter Influence System Biogeochemistry During Early Production of Hydraulically Fractured Natural Gas Wells in the Appalachian Basin” (full copy below). This time, several Utica and Marcellus wells were studied. What’s the upshot of this latest study?
    Read More “Ohio State Study Looks at 2 New Microbes in Shale Wells”

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    Dominion One Step Away from Closing on SCANA Merger

    In January Dominion Energy announced a deal to buy out and merge in South Carolina-based SCANA Corporation (see Dominion Buys SCANA, Mulls Atlantic Coast Pipe Expansion into SC). SCANA is an energy-based holding company principally engaged, through subsidiaries, in electric and natural gas utility operations and other energy-related businesses. In other words, the local electric and gas company for much of South Carolina. When Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline gets built and expanded into South Carolina, it will flow Marcellus/Utica gas to SCANA customers–an important and huge new market for our molecules. Hence our interest in this merger. Dominion announced yesterday that North Carolina has now signed off on the merger, and all that remains is one final regulatory approval. Dominion expects the merger to be done this year.
    Read More “Dominion One Step Away from Closing on SCANA Merger”

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    Roller Coaster Ride Continues – NatGas Price Spikes Up $0.43

    We’re not going to continue to cover news about the price of natural gas each day, because the price goes up, then it goes down, then it goes back up…you get the idea. We will, however, bring you one more story today on the price of natgas, because of the ongoing wild swings in price. The fact that prices goes up and down is not mysterious and frankly, not noteworthy. What is noteworthy is the sudden and dramatic swings–called volatility in the business. Last Wednesday the NYMEX futures price for gas hit a four-year high, up 18% in a single day (see Price of NatGas Spikes to Highest Level in 4 Years – $4.84/Mcf). The very next day the price crashed, down 20% in a single day from the previous day (see Wild Ride – Price of NatGas Crashes Day After it Spikes, Down 20%). The price stayed “low” relative to the previous high for a few days, then spiked up again yesterday, going up 9% to close at $4.70/Mcf. Arctic cold weather is hitting the northeast, combined with somewhat low storage levels, leading to a bump up in price. What lies ahead over the next few days and months? One analyst believes we’ll see prices close to or even above $5/Mcf–tomorrow.
    Read More “Roller Coaster Ride Continues – NatGas Price Spikes Up $0.43”

  • Painting with a Broad Brush re Post-Production Deductions

    Is the Marcellus/Utica industry giving itself a black eye with respect to post-production deductions? It’s always dangerous to paint with too broad of a brush. There are some drillers who don’t deduct post-production costs, and the landowners signed with them are happy as clams (we know some personally). But there are other drillers, perhaps under pressure by investors, perhaps from greed (as is said by those opposed to shale drilling) that are making profits on the backs of landowners. Regardless of motivation, it’s not right. The problem is, the media *does* paint with a broad brush and accuses the entire industry of behaving the same way. The following Charleston Gazette-Mail editorial is a perfect example.
    Read More “Painting with a Broad Brush re Post-Production Deductions”

  • Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Nov 20, 2018

    The “best of the rest”–stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading: Natural-gas pipeline protesters take petition to C&O headquarters; Summit County approves natural gas pipeline emergency fund; U.S. shale firms offer $100 million to aid Texas, New Mexico; Natural gas price explosion bankrupts traders; Freezing temperatures could heat up natural gas prices; Pipeline paralysis: The left’s latest fossil fuel obstruction tactic; No penalties for 90% of pipeline blasts; Firm proposes new wells as New Brunswick muses about end to fracking moratorium; The oil price is now controlled by just three men; Saudi Arabia and the future of oil prices: Look to what robots will do, not what Trump tweets.
    Read More “Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Nov 20, 2018”

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    FERC Grants Favorable EIS to Jacksonville, FL LNG Export Facility

    Click for larger version

    Is there a connection between a new LNG export facility on the East Coast, all the way down in Jacksonville, Florida, and the Marcellus/Utica? Indeed there is! In January 2017, Eagle LNG filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build a new LNG export facility at a site on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville. The LNG produced at the facility will be transported to markets in the Caribbean and Latin America for power generation, and also delivered to local and regional markets, including marine bunkering and high horsepower applications–LNG used right here at home. Last Friday FERC issued a favorable draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the project, which means FERC plans to grant final approval. Below we connect the dots for how Marcellus/Utica gas will be some of the gas feeding this new plant.
    Read More “FERC Grants Favorable EIS to Jacksonville, FL LNG Export Facility”

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    Trump Plans to Nominate Andrew Wheeler as EPA Administrator

    Andrew Wheeler

    We admit that we are conflicted about Andrew Wheeler, the acting Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). On one hand he appears to be following President Trump’s lead and is working hard to roll back, defang, and otherwise file down some of the very sharp regulatory teeth added to the agency during the disastrous Obama years. Wheeler says he’s in the job to help President Trump and further Trump’s agenda at the agency. We believe him. On the other hand, Wheeler has worked in Washington pretty much his whole professional life, in and out of government, and is attempting to make peace with leftist Democrats who populate the rank and file workers at the EPA. That is, he’s attempting to placate swamp dwellers–instead of draining the stagnant swamp (i.e. firing them). That’s a mistake. A big mistake. Because those swamp dwellers will continue to undercut Wheeler at every turn. But Trump likes Wheeler and the job he’s done since the unceremonious exit of Scott Pruitt, hounded out by political enemies (like the Washington Post and Athens News). On Friday, Trump said he plans to nominate Wheeler to permanently take the position. Yes, we’re conflicted.
    Read More “Trump Plans to Nominate Andrew Wheeler as EPA Administrator”

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    Virginia Gov. Northam Replaces Regulators Before Compressor Vote

    There is a fascinating bit of politics playing out in Virginia. The state’s previous governor, Terry McAuliffe, favored pipeline projects like EQT’s Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). What’s strange about McAuliffe’s support is that he’s a far-left Democrat. Yet he resisted calls from his nutroots base to shut both pipeline projects down. McAuliffe was replaced in January 2018 by Ralph Northam, another liberal Democrat (lib Dems get elected in Virginia because of a high population of libs who live around the D.C. area). Once again the nutters came out in force to pressure the new governor to oppose MVP and ACP. And once again, the new governor is not caving to the pressure. In fact, Gov. Northam has just canned two board members who voted to delay a vote on an ACP compressor station!
    Read More “Virginia Gov. Northam Replaces Regulators Before Compressor Vote”