Energy Transfer Defends Mariner East 2 NGL Pipe Plan in Pennsylvania

By Scott DiSavino
Thursday, November 29, 2018

Energy Transfer LP representatives are heading to Pennsylvania's capital on Thursday for a hearing before utility regulators to defend the company's plan to put the Sunoco Mariner East 2 natural gas liquids pipe into service by year end.

Energy Transfer wants to temporarily connect an existing 1930s-era 12-inch (30.5 centimeter) pipe to the parts of its long-delayed 20-inch Mariner East 2 pipeline that it has already completed so it can start transporting liquids for customers.

Those customers have been waiting for more than a year to ship liquids on Mariner East 2. When Energy Transfer first started working on the $2.5 billion project in February 2017, it had planned to put the 350-mile (563-kilometer) pipe into service in the third quarter of 2017.

Mariner East 2 and another Energy Transfer project, the Rover natural gas pipe from Ohio to Michigan, were delayed over the past year in part because the projects together racked up more than 800 state and federal permit violations while the company raced to build them.

Those opposed to Energy Transfer's plans for Mariner East 2 asked the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) to stop construction on Mariner East 2 and also stop the company from transporting liquids on the existing Mariner East 1 pipeline.

The administrative law judge at the PUC scheduled to hear the case on Thursday is Elizabeth Barnes, the same judge who heard a case earlier this year that sought to stop the Mariner East project.

In that case, Judge Barnes ordered Energy Transfer to stop transporting gas on Mariner East 1 and stop work on Mariner East 2 in West Whiteland Township after sinkholes were discovered near the pipeline.

Mariner East 1 returned to service in June.

In the latest case, seven residents of Delaware and Chester Counties in southeast Pennsylvania argued Energy Transfer did "not provide adequate notice of procedures sufficient to ensure the safety of the public in the event of a leak or rupture."

In response, Energy Transfer spokeswoman Lisa Dillinger said in an email "We do not believe the claim is valid...The integrity of our Mariner East 1 and 2 pipelines has been verified in the last few months" by state and federal regulators.

Mariner East transports liquids from the Marcellus and Utica shale fields in western Pennsylvania to customers in the state and elsewhere, including international exports from Energy Transfer's Marcus Hook complex near Philadelphia.

(Reuters, Reporting by Scott DiSavino Editing by David Gregorio)

Categories: Legal Shale Oil & Gas Pipelines

Related Stories

CNOOC Signs Hydrocarbons Exploration and Production Deal with Kazakhstan

Petronas Expands Suriname Portfolio with Deepwater Block Acquisition

Wood JV Gets EPC Job for Shell off Brunei

Chuditch Gas Field Drilling Ops Get Delayed to Next Year

Fugro Expands Geotechnical Testing Capabilities in Indonesia

UK Firm Secures Exploration Extension for Two Blocks off Vietnam

CDWE Wraps Up Pin Pile Installation Job for Taiwanese Offshore Wind Farm

TPAO, SOCAR and BP to Ink Caspian Sea Oil and Gas Production Deal

Fugro Lands Deepwater Gas Field Job in Southeast Asia

CIP, ACEN Partner Up for First Large-Scale Offshore Wind Farm in Philippines

Current News

CNOOC Signs Hydrocarbons Exploration and Production Deal with Kazakhstan

Thailand's PTT to Buy LNG from Glenfarne's Alaska LNG Project

Woodside and Jera Agree LNG Cargoes Supply for Japan’s Winter Period

Petronas Expands Suriname Portfolio with Deepwater Block Acquisition

Japanese Oil and Gas Firm Enters Two Blocks off Malaysia

Yinson Production, “K” LINE Target Europe's CCS with FSIU and LCO2 Solutions

Woodside Agrees Long-Term LNG Supply with Petronas Unit

MODEC and Terra Drone Renew FPSO Drone Inspection Partnership

Yinson Production Closes $1B Investment to Drive Further Growth

Petronas-Eni Upstream Joint Venture to Take Up to Two Years to Set Up

Subscribe for AOG Digital E‑News

AOG Digital E-News is the subsea industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email three times per week

https://accounts.newwavemedia.com