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Festival in Kirby Park celebrates holiday, marks end of summer

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Times Leader Career Fair to be held Sept. 15

<p>The proposed Atlantic Sunrise and PennEast pipelines are part of a huge upswing in interstate gas transmission projects nationwide in the last two years.</p><p>Nine filings were recorded by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the eight years from 2006 through 2013. None were in Pennsylvania.</p><p>In 2014, there were 24 filings across the United States; only two of them all or partly in Pennsylvania. So far in 2015, there have been 44 filings, 13 in Pennsylvania.</p><p>These figures do not include proposed pipelines transporting gas wholly within state borders, which are not subject to federal oversight.</p><p>So, why here and why now? The answer to the first question is simple proximity to the prodigious Marcellus Shale gas fields to the north and west of Luzerne County.</p><p>A drilling boom over the past five years has resulted in thousands of hydraulic fractured wells being punched in the ground, many of them producing at rates that exceeded expectations. But pipeline capacity has not kept pace, so many wells have been capped until new lines go into service. Some of those &#8212; such as Atlantic Sunrise, PennEast and MARC II &#8212; will tap into the large Transcontinental interstate line that was installed in Luzerne County beginning in the 1950s.</p><p>The timing is a function of perceived demand, now that the Marcellus has proved it will be a strong and reliable gas producer.</p><p>Marcellus gas volume exceeded 15 billion cubic feet per day through July, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, accounting for almost 40 percent of the U.S. total. In 2010, Marcellus production was about 2 billion cubic feet per day. To get that gas to market, in addition to the pipelines heading south through Luzerne County, there are proposals for lines to New England, which historically has not had access to large quantities of gas.</p><p>Pipeline builders tout the value of increased natural gas availability to homes and businesses up and down the East Coast for driving demand. But there is another factor: new liquefied natural gas terminals that will allow the sale of Marcellus gas to the highest bidders overseas.</p><p>According to the Energy Information Administration, Marcellus gas production surpassed demand in its home states of Pennsylvania and West Virginia four years ago and is on track to meet the demand in those states plus New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.</p><p>But there are other sources of gas from southern and western states, so there could be a glut of supply, which would drive prices down. For gas producers, exporting some gas product overseas would balance supply and demand, stabilizing prices, particularly since LNG rates can be several times domestic prices.</p><p>Eight LNG export terminals have been approved and four are under construction, including Cove Point in Maryland, in which a partner in the PennEast pipeline recently took an interest. And pipeline operators acknowledge that once gas is fed into the interstate system, it becomes part of a supply that can end up anywhere.</p><p>Richard Ziets, an oil and gas industry analyst writing for the website Seeking Alpha, foresees Marcellus Shale production possibly doubling by 2020, with some of the gas supplying LNG exports that could reach 10 billion cubic feet per day by that time, plus potentially increased exports to Mexico.</p><p>Despite companies&#8217; claims the gas is needed for domestic consumption, some critics see export as the real driving force behind the pipeline boom.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a private corporation, taking the property for profit, because nobody here is going to benefit from that gas,&#8221; said Dory Hippauf, a member of the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition who follows the industry closely. &#8220;All this BS about American natural gas for America means nothing.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Ron Bartizek</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>Pipelines in Luzerne County</strong></p><p>&#8226; Transco interstate transmission pipeline</p><p>&#8226; Williams gathering pipeline</p><p>&#8226; EFP gathering pipeline</p><p>&#8226; UGI Auburn</p><p><strong>Proposed pipelines:</strong></p><p>&#8226; Atlantic Sunrise (Williams)</p><p>&#8226; Leidy Loop Transco expansion (Williams)</p><p>&#8226; PennEast (UGI and others)</p><p><strong>Pipelines on drawing board:</strong></p><p>&#8226; MARC II</p><p>&#8226; Diamond East (Williams, inactive)</p></factboxMeta></div>

Pipeline construction: Why here? Why now?