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Released May 06, 2022 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--A new chapter opened this week in the seemingly never-ending saga of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). Equitrans Midstream Corporation (NYSE:ETRN) (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), the lead partner in the project, said it pushed back the in-service start date of the 303-mile natural gas pipeline and raised its estimated cost to $6.6 billion.
Stretching from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia, the MVP project is 95% complete. It is expected to provide up to 2 million dekatherms per day of natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations to markets in the Mid- and South-Atlantic regions.
But since its inception, the project has been beset by litigation and unfavorable court rulings. By one count, since 2017, the project has garnered at least 56 civil court actions by landowners and environmental groups in Virginia alone.
Despite all this, on Tuesday, Equitrans said it would pursue new permits for the project that were struck down by the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The company said it has delayed the planned in-service date for the pipeline from this year to the second half of 2023.
The price tag for the project has grown about $400 million from the $6.2 billion cost estimate made earlier this year, and now totals about $6.6 billion. The pipeline was originally planned to be completed in 2018 at a cost of $3.5 billion.
The most recent setback for the project occurred when the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's assessment of the MVP's impact on two endangered fish, the Roanoke logperch and the candy darter. For more information, see February 8, 2022, article - New Legal Hurdles Cast Doubt on Mountain Valley Pipeline Completion Date.
The court actions prompted NextEra Energy Corporation (NYSE:NEE) (Juno Beach, Florida), one of the project's backers, to re-evaluate its investment in the project. For more information, see February 21, 2022, article - NextEra Energy Re-Evaluates Role in Mountain Valley Pipeline, Records $800 Million Charge.
But things took a turn for the better in April, when the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order amending the pipeline's 2017 certificate to allow the project to bore under some water crossings instead of using open cuts. The use of trenchless water crossings would result in fewer environmental impacts, FERC officials said.
"The FERC's unanimous approval of MVP's Certificate Amendment was an important step forward for the MVP project," said Thomas Karam, the chief executive officer of Equitrans, in the company's first-quarter earnings release. "After engaging with the federal agencies and evaluating all options, we believe the best path forward for MVP's completion is to pursue new permits. While we continue to believe that the Fourth Circuit Court's opinions related to MVP's forest crossing permit and Biological Opinion were wrong and represent a significant departure from traditional judicial deference, we are confident the agencies can and will produce even more comprehensive documentation to address the court's concerns."
Also, the project has been championed by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources, who has maintained projects such as MVP are needed more than ever to achieve energy security in this time of geopolitical turmoil.
Industrial Info is tracking five projects tied to the MVP. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Oil & Gas Pipeline Project Database can click here for a list of detailed project reports.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the world's leading provider of market intelligence across the upstream, midstream and downstream energy markets and all other major industrial markets. IIR's Global Market Intelligence Platform (GMI) supports our end-users across their core businesses, and helps them connect trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated project opportunities. Follow IIR on: LinkedIn.
Stretching from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia, the MVP project is 95% complete. It is expected to provide up to 2 million dekatherms per day of natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations to markets in the Mid- and South-Atlantic regions.
But since its inception, the project has been beset by litigation and unfavorable court rulings. By one count, since 2017, the project has garnered at least 56 civil court actions by landowners and environmental groups in Virginia alone.
Despite all this, on Tuesday, Equitrans said it would pursue new permits for the project that were struck down by the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The company said it has delayed the planned in-service date for the pipeline from this year to the second half of 2023.
The price tag for the project has grown about $400 million from the $6.2 billion cost estimate made earlier this year, and now totals about $6.6 billion. The pipeline was originally planned to be completed in 2018 at a cost of $3.5 billion.
The most recent setback for the project occurred when the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's assessment of the MVP's impact on two endangered fish, the Roanoke logperch and the candy darter. For more information, see February 8, 2022, article - New Legal Hurdles Cast Doubt on Mountain Valley Pipeline Completion Date.
The court actions prompted NextEra Energy Corporation (NYSE:NEE) (Juno Beach, Florida), one of the project's backers, to re-evaluate its investment in the project. For more information, see February 21, 2022, article - NextEra Energy Re-Evaluates Role in Mountain Valley Pipeline, Records $800 Million Charge.
But things took a turn for the better in April, when the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order amending the pipeline's 2017 certificate to allow the project to bore under some water crossings instead of using open cuts. The use of trenchless water crossings would result in fewer environmental impacts, FERC officials said.
"The FERC's unanimous approval of MVP's Certificate Amendment was an important step forward for the MVP project," said Thomas Karam, the chief executive officer of Equitrans, in the company's first-quarter earnings release. "After engaging with the federal agencies and evaluating all options, we believe the best path forward for MVP's completion is to pursue new permits. While we continue to believe that the Fourth Circuit Court's opinions related to MVP's forest crossing permit and Biological Opinion were wrong and represent a significant departure from traditional judicial deference, we are confident the agencies can and will produce even more comprehensive documentation to address the court's concerns."
Also, the project has been championed by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources, who has maintained projects such as MVP are needed more than ever to achieve energy security in this time of geopolitical turmoil.
Industrial Info is tracking five projects tied to the MVP. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Oil & Gas Pipeline Project Database can click here for a list of detailed project reports.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the world's leading provider of market intelligence across the upstream, midstream and downstream energy markets and all other major industrial markets. IIR's Global Market Intelligence Platform (GMI) supports our end-users across their core businesses, and helps them connect trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated project opportunities. Follow IIR on: LinkedIn.
