Penneast

PennEast Pipeline Co. LLC urged FERC Thursday to take prompt action on the project’s certification, joining Nexus Gas Transmission LLC on the list of proposed natural gas pipelines looking to move forward now that the Commission has regained its quorum.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) on Wednesday closed its environmental review of the PennEast Pipeline, denying a request for more time to address deficiencies in the project’s application for a freshwater wetlands permit and a federal water quality certification.

The initial buildout of the Nautilus gas gathering system in the Permian’s Delaware sub-basin is complete and the system has begun flowing gas, Crestwood Equity Partners LP said. The system includes 20 receipt point meters, 60 miles of pipeline, a 24-mile high-pressure header system, 10,800 hp of compression and a high-pressure delivery point. It is owned by Crestwood Permian Basin Holdings LLC, a joint venture of Crestwood and private equity firm First Reserve. Last September, Crestwood made a long-term agreement with SWEPI LP, a unit of Royal Dutch Shell plc, to construct, own and operate a gathering system in Shell’s operating position in the Delaware. Nautilus is designed to serve a dedication area of about 100,000 acres across Loving, Reeves and Ward counties, TX. It is expected to ultimately include 194 miles of low-pressure gathering lines, 36 miles of high-pressure trunklines and centralized compression facilities, which would be expandable as production increases, providing gathering capacity of at least 250 MMcf/d.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) notified PennEast Pipeline Co. LLC Wednesday that its application for a state freshwater wetlands permit is incomplete, due in part to a lack of landowner permission to survey certain parts of the proposed route.

FERC on Friday issued a final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for the PennEast Pipeline, bringing the project one step closer to approval.

A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Delaware Riverkeeper Network (DRN) that had alleged FERC is “structurally biased” toward approving natural gas pipeline projects because of the fees it collects from the industry.

U.S. Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) have asked FERC to investigate concerns raised by several federal agencies over the proposed PennEast natural gas pipeline, including the risk of possible arsenic contamination.

It didn’t take long for PSEG Power LLC to divest its minority stake in the PennEast Pipeline, as Spectra Energy Partners LP announced Monday that it has entered a purchase and sale agreement to increase its interest in the project.

New Jersey-based PSEG Power LLC’s decision to explore the sale of its minority stake in the PennEast Pipeline hasn’t discouraged the market-pull project’s other backers.