Mountaineer

Mountaineer NGL Storage LLC, a first-of-its-kind project in the Appalachian Basin to serve growing volumes of natural gas liquids (NGL), has completed its technical validation phase and preliminary engineering work, and now hopes to land customers in the coming months.

FERC staff will prepare an environmental assessment (EA) for TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Eastern Panhandle Expansion Project and will examine the natural gas pipeline’s potential impacts on the Potomac River and the C&O Canal.

The Public Service Commission (PSC) of West Virginia said this month that it again expects lower gas bills for two-thirds of the state’s residents during the upcoming winter heating season.

Mountaineer NGL Storage LLC has concluded a successful nonbinding open season for its natural gas liquids (NGL) storage project near Clarington, OH, in Monroe County, noting requests for more than three times the amount of initial planned capacity.

FERC has approved Columbia Gas Transmission’s (TCO) request for a pre-filing review process for the proposed Mountaineer Xpress project, which could carry up to 2.7 Bcf/d of Utica and Marcellus shale gas to the TCO pool and other points.

The Public Service Commission (PSC) of West Virginia expects the state’s consumers to pay less this winter for natural gas after reviewing purchased natural gas cost adjustment requests from leading utilities.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) settled a Clean Water Act (CWA) case for wetlands violations, requiring PDC Mountaineer (PDCM) to pay a penalty of $177,500 to resolve violations involving construction activities at Marcellus Shale gas extraction facilities in northern West Virginia. According to EPA, Bridgeport, WV-based PDCM failed to apply for necessary permits to discharge fill materials into wetlands or streams in Harrison County, WV. PDCM, which also agreed to restore and/or complete mitigation projects at four sites in the state pursuant to separate CWA orders, did not admit to violating the CWA. Earlier this month, PDC Energy reported that PDCM, a joint venture of PDC and Lime Rock Partners V LP, completed three horizontal Marcellus wells since mid-September. The wells were expected to be turned-in-line by year’s end, once a permit for a gathering line river crossing is received, PDC said.

A professor at Ohio’s Cleveland State University (CSU) said permitting activity in the Utica Shale this year is in line with projections but further success in the play depends on obtaining accurate decline curve data for production over a longer period of time.

PDC Energy Inc. received several joint ownership and development proposals for its Utica Shale position in southeast Ohio from potential joint venture (JV) partners, but they “do not meet PDC’s value expectations,” so the Denver-based company will pursue development in the play independently.