Marcellus Shale region to see wave of large pipeline projects

PowerSource P-G ^ | June 23, 2015 | Stephanie Ritenbaugh

[thackney]

Over the next three years, the Marcellus Shale region can expect to see about 17 pipeline projects meant to ship about 17.3 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas out of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio to end-users, according to IHS Energy.

Those destinations “are varied, and in addition to New England, some are targeting the Midwest, eastern Canada and the South,” said Matthew Piatek, associate director of North American natural gas for IHS, which tracks energy markets.

“Given the amount of production in the tri-state area currently, it will be able to satisfy the lion’s share of Mid-Atlantic and New England demand and still export a net amount of natural gas,” Mr. Paitek said.

The new infrastructure is in high demand. As natural gas production ramped up in the Marcellus and Utica regions, the existing pipeline network to take that fuel from well sites to market has been maxed out.

That has led to a supply glut and to depressed natural gas prices in Pennsylvania, even as neighboring New England and New York weathered dramatic natural gas price spikes during high-demand winter months.

“There will be significant relief with the buildout happening this year,” said Lindsay Schneider, principal analyst with Wood Mackenzie’s natural gas team.

Still, next summer could look a bit different from this one as low natural gas prices prompt drillers to pull back production, Ms. Schneider noted. Between 2014 and 2015, Wood Mackenzie estimates supply growth of about 2.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) from the Marcellus. In 2015-2016, that is expected to fall to about 1.8 Bcf/d.

But even with a slowdown, production is expected to grow, Ms. Schneider said.

[thackney]

Excerpt for Post-Gazette

[thackney]

North American pipeline flows changing dramatically: Kinder
http://www.platts.com/latest-news/natural-gas/houston/cera-2015-north-american-pipeline-flows-changing-21334707
22 Apr 2015

The North American gas pipeline system is undergoing a historic reconfiguration likely to lead to the creation of a “null point” somewhere in Pennsylvania from which natural gas will flow to markets in opposite directions, the chairman and CEO of infrastructure giant Kinder Morgan said Wednesday.

Richard Kinder, giving a keynote address at IHS CERAWeek in Houston, said the growth of gas production in the Marcellus and Utica shales in the last several years has had a profound effect on the flow of gas, which historically has flowed from the producing regions of Louisiana and Texas to markets in the Northeast.

“Then all of a sudden, like manna from heaven, we get a tremendous amount of production in the Northeast, just 200 miles from the major metropolitan areas,” he said.

“You’re going to have a null point somewhere in Pennsylvania, which means that on a given day all the gas that’s upstream of that will flow toward Texas and the gas that is downstream of that is going to move toward New England,” he said.

or its part, Kinder Morgan, which owns four major interstate gas pipelines that stretch from the Gulf Coast region of Texas and Louisiana to market areas in the Northeast, has already reacted to the changing market dynamics, Kinder said.

“We turned three of them around to move gas back down here. The fourth one we have not turned it around and we are now seeking approval to turn it into an NGL line,” he said.

Kinder said much of the gas from the Marcellus and Utica plays is selling at a discount to other regions of the country because of the shortage of infrastructure to bring it to market.

“All this natural gas is tremendous asset, but many [producers] are getting paid poorly because there’s so much of it,” he said. “There are places where it’s less than $1.50[/MMBtu] at some of those points and you have a tremendous market just a couple of hundred miles away.”

Kinder said Kinder Morgan and other interstate pipeline companies are in a race to build out the pipeline infrastructure in the region.

“That’s why we are trying to build more capacity to New England, which has the highest natural gas prices and highest electricity prices in the nation and yet they’re sitting almost on top of this tremendous asset,” he said.

In addition, Kinder said he sees a need for significant growth in gas infrastructure projects in the Southeast to service the expected growth in industrial demand along the Gulf Coast.

He predicted there would be $100 billion worth of industrial projects built along a 40-mile swath that reaches across Texas eastward to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. An expected jump in the number of petrochemical projects along the Gulf Coast will lead to “a tremendous growth in the use of natural gas,” Kinder said.

This demand will soak up the available supply in the region and then some, he said.

“We need everything we can produce down here and the smart people in this room want as many sources of supply as possible,” he said.

Many investors in petchem projects have moved to lock in their gas supplies by contracting to buy Marcellus production, Kinder comment.

“They have firm rights to go upstream to a liquid point someplace in the Utica/Marcellus to pick up that gas and they can buy at a discount,” he said.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Nat gas is America’s ace in the hole, unless Liberals figure out a way to block it.

[thackney]

New chemical plants expected to boost industrial natural gas use by 4% in 2015
http://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/weekly/archive/2015/05_21/index.cfm

Several new energy-intensive industrial facilities started service in 2015, and there are additional projects scheduled to come online in the next year. Industrial natural gas consumption has grown steadily since 2009, as relatively low natural gas prices have been attractive to customers who use natural gas as a feedstock for chemical production. Methanol plants and ammonia- or urea-based fertilizer plants are among the most natural gas-intensive industrial end users, with many using 100 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) or more. In the Short Term Energy Outlook, EIA forecasts that these new projects will help drive growth in industrial natural gas demand through the forecast period, which runs through the end of 2016. EIA forecasts consumption will average 21.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2015 and 22.4 Bcf/d in 2016. That industrial consumption in 2016 is expected to be 5.5 Bcf/d, or 33%, greater than in 2009.

[Dutch Boy]

Just look to NY for that. Little Andy Cuomo has blocked NY from this prosperity. All you need to do is take massive amounts of money from anti-Fracker and ignore all scientific research. Any liberal could do that.

[thackney]

GE’s New HA Turbines Nearing Delivery
http://www.powermag.com/ges-new-ha-turbines-nearing-delivery-2/
05/01/2015

The first U.S. order is from Exelon for four 7HA turbines intended for expansions at the Wolf Hollow and Colorado Bend plants in Texas, expected to come online in 2017.

The 7HA.01 and 7HA.02, meanwhile, are rated at 275 MW and 405 MW, and 337 MW and 468 MW, respectively.

Both designs can achieve better than 41% efficiency in simple cycle and more than 61% in combined cycle mode. GE says the 9HA.01—the model slated for Bourchain—can reach full power in 30 minutes and ramp at 60 MW per minute.

[1Old Pro]

That has led to a supply glut and to depressed natural gas prices in Pennsylvania, even as neighboring New England and New York weathered dramatic natural gas price spikes during high-demand winter months.

Maybe NYS should life the fracking ban.

[4yearlurker]

Here in Washington County,PA. there is a constant parade of trucks carrying all kinds of heavy equipment,pipes,trailers,water,etc.

[WakeUpAndVote]

Screw communist New York. The second gas boom will come as soon as the pipelines are in place. The market is there and the price is right, just lay the pipe.

[thackney]

I suspect you had a typo meaning lift, but a lifetime ban is what too many NYers want.

More jobs for the rest of us, let them enjoy the consequences of their elections.

[WakeUpAndVote]

Same in Tioga and Bradford. Once this starts up again, they will drill the hell out of Utica. Those five NY counties will become part of PA yet.

[1Old Pro]

yes, I meant Lift. The southern tier of NYS could really use the job lift and the rest of us could use the increased revenues to lower our almost highest in the nation taxes.

But, Boy Cuomo is a devout leftist.

[thackney]

Then look to Texas:

To Quiet Calls for Fracking Curbs, Texas Bans Bans
http://www.newsweek.com/2015/06/12/quiet-calls-fracking-curbs-texas-bans-bans-339164.html

On May 18, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law a measure that prohibits cities and towns from passing ordinances to prohibit fracking and regulate underground activity, effectively banning fracking bans like the one the city of Denton passed last November. The legislation—the first such measure to be enacted in the nation—represents a major win for the oil and gas industry and was characterized by the governor as a defense of “private property rights” and a move to limit government bureaucracy and overregulation.