Short Pipeline from NW Pa. to NE Ohio May Not Get Done This Year
Last October MDN brought you details about the proposed $86 million Risberg Line pipeline project (see New 60-Mile Pipeline Proposed from NW Pa. to NE Ohio). The project will use approximately 32 miles of existing pipeline in an established Right of Way originating in the Meadville, PA area. Approximately 16 miles of new pipeline will be installed in Pennsylvania and approximately 12 miles of new pipeline will be installed in Ohio–meaning 28 miles of brand new “greenfield” pipeline needs to get built. In early May, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said it will issue an environmental assessment (EA) for the project on or by June 29th (see FERC Review of Risberg Pipeline in NE OH/NW PA Coming June 29). Both the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the PA Fish and Boat Commission are “cooperating agencies” and part of the EA review process. Following the EA, the clock will begin ticking and FERC will have until Sept. 27th to make a final decision about the project. The original timeline for the project, from the beginning, has been to have it all built and operating by the end of this year. The builder, RH energytrans, is now cautioning that may not happen. Why? Because one never knows with regulatory agencies like FERC and the Army Corps and the Boat Commission. Deadlines come and go and get extended. FERC says the dates they given are targets and not carved in stone. If everything happened as FERC laid out, RH says it would be a challenge, but they can probably get the job done this year. But if the deadline slips, all bets are off…
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MDN has previously written about the Appalachian NGL (natural gas liquids) Storage Hub, a $10+ billion infrastructure project with no specific location identified as yet, but West Virginia often named (see 
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On Friday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued Dominion Energy permission to begin construction of the actual pipeline for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project–in West Virginia. ACP is a (now) $6.5 billion project, up from a projected $5 billion due to delays from regulatory agencies and frivolous lawsuits filed by Big Green groups, that will run from WV through Virginia and into North Carolina–almost to the border with South Carolina. Until now FERC had allowed prep work, like tree cutting. But now actual pipeline construction can begin, which is a momentous occasion, worthy of celebration!…
Last week RCL Chemical announced it has partnered with Y2X Infrastructure to build a $325 million gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Floyd County, Kentucky. GTL plants convert natural gas, a hydrocarbon, into other hydrocarbons, like diesel fuel, gasoline, solvents and waxes. An abundance of cheap natural gas in the Marcellus/Utica is one of the prime motivators for establishing GTL plants in the region. Although we’ve heard plenty of talk about such plants, we’ve only seen a few prototypes get built thus far. The RCL/Y2X story caught our attention because Kentucky hates new gas pipelines, yet wants to build a plant that will use gas coming from pipelines (see 
What’s happening with Kinder Morgan’s $4 billion Utica Marcellus Texas Pipeline (UMTP) project? In February MDN told you that Kentucky antis went to court to try and block a plan by Kinder Morgan to convert a portion of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) that flows natural gas from the Gulf Coast to the northeast, to reverse the pipeline and flow natural gas liquids (NGLs) from the Marcellus/Utica region to the Gulf Coast (see 
Here’s a theme we have been writing about more and more–because it’s important. That theme is this: Oil drillers in Texas (and New Mexico), in the Permian Basin, are drilling so fast and so furious to get oil out of the ground, that they are creating an overabundance of natural gas that increasingly competes with Marcellus/Utica gas. How? Every time you drill for one hydrocarbon, like oil, other hydrocarbons often come of the ground with it. In this case, natural gas. The unintended but significant quantities of natgas coming out of the ground along with Permian oil is referred to in the biz as “associated gas.” As we wrote in March, natural gas prices in Texas did something that hasn’t happened in years–they became cheaper than the price of natural gas selling in the saturated Marcellus/Utica (see 
In April, the Pennsylvania Joint State Government Commission released a report (full copy below) tackling the question of whether or not PA’s environmental laws and regulations are more stringent than federal requirements. The report compared the main state and federal laws in place covering clean air, clean water, natural resources, waste management and more. The report says PA’s laws, “are generally no more stringent than their federal counterparts.” But in the same paragraph, the report says, “Where additional regulations have been made, it is generally justified as a compelling and articulable Pennsylvania interest and addresses definable public health, safety or environmental risks. The area of greatest deviation involves differences between the federal Clean Water Act and the Clean Streams Law. Other more stringent regulations are found in the areas of safe drinking water, the handling of hazardous materials, and mineral extraction. In some instances, Pennsylvania regulations build upon and supplement federal law; in others, Pennsylvania has acted in areas not regulated by the federal government” (pg 6). What does that say to you? It says to us: “Heck yeah, the enviro laws in PA are a lot more strict than federal laws, but there’s good reasons (according to the authors of the report) for it.” Are there good reasons for PA raising the bar higher than the federal government requires?…
Events related (or of interest) to the Marcellus and Utica Shale, primarily pro-drilling events. To have your event included (or if you are aware of a worthy event you believe should be on this page), please send the details and/or a link to have it included to the calendar@marcellusdrilling.com email address.
Yesterday Energy Transfer Partners held its quarterly conference call with stock analysts to discuss first quarter 2018 results. On the phone call we got some updated information about timing for two critical Marcellus/Utica projects: Rover Pipeline and Mariner East 2 Pipeline. As recently as last week MDN was under the impression that Rover–a $3.7 billion, 711-mile natural gas pipeline that runs from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and on to Canada via the Vector Pipeline–would be 100% done sometime by the end of June. Not so according to ET’s CFO Thomas Long, who said on yesterday’s call that Rover will be fully done and in service by June 1! That is really good news. That means the full capacity of 3.25 billion cubic feet per day of Marcellus/Utica gas will flow to the Midwest, Michigan and Canada within the next three weeks. As for Mariner East 2 (ME2), that project was knocked off its original schedule following an extended shutdown of construction by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environment Protection. ME2 is actually two pipelines, not one. The first ME2 pipeline, according to Tom Long, will be up and running sometime by the end of September this year. The second ME2 pipeline, referred to as ME2X, will be done by “mid-2019.” Here’s a couple of excerpts from the conference call, along with the full ET 1Q18 update…
Protesting something like a pipeline is one thing. March around, show your signs, talk to the press, make a horse’s rear-end of yourself. Whatever. But showing up at someone’s home and blocking their driveway and erecting a 20-foot tall tower and refusing to move until arrested? That’s something else. That kind of “protest” is threatening, menacing behavior. Bullying. And it’s all too easy for people who have crossed that line to tip over into outright violence. A group of criminal protesters did just what we described–blocked the driveway and erected a wall in the driveway–of Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good at her home in Charlotte, NC on Wednesday. Duke is partners with Dominion Energy in the $6.5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project, a natural gas pipeline from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina. The criminal protesters showed up at Good’s home to oppose the project. The signs they carried revealed their irrational hatred of fossil fuels, which is what motivated them to protest in the first place. Wackos. Here’s how it went down at Good’s home earlier this week…
On Wednesday, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court (an appeals court) heard oral arguments over how to prove whether contaminants in the soil have moved into groundwater. The case dates back to 2014 when the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) slapped EQT with a $4.53 million fine for a leaky wastewater impoundment in Tioga County (see 