Utica Midstream Conference Offers Upbeat 2021 Outlook

Companies Operating in the Utica Shale are looking forward to a positive 2021.

PENN VALLEY, PA, US, September 29, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Despite an economic downturn, natural gas glut – and ongoing pandemic – industry players last Thursday got together to talk shop and get a feel for the future from industry experts. “We had a very positive vibe at the conference,” commented Joe Barone, President and Founder, Shale Directories.
Roughly 90 attendees weren’t disappointed at the latest Utica Midstream Conference, presented by Shale Directories. The Canton, Ohio, conference is the brainchild of Shale Directories founder Joe Barone.

One primary theme of the all-day affair was industry players, analysts, and consultants who work in the Appalachian Basin/Northeast U.S. remain optimistic and see the natural gas industry getting on track in 2021.

With all the industry-oriented bad news portrayed in the media, basin wet gas production will remain at a hefty 33 Bcf/d, from August 2019, through 2020 and 2021, according to Colette Breshears, Senior Research Manager and Head of North America Infrastructure with Wood Mackenzie.
With increased production comes the need for more pipelines to move product to wanting markets. Breshears said a major pipeline impacting Appalachian Basin gas production will soon flow product: the 2 Bcf/d capacity Mountain Valley Pipeline.

Currently, the line is expected to be in service by April 1, 2021, but Breshears cautioned that given its past history in securing permits and dealing with numerous lawsuits filed by detractors, that in-service date still may be a bit optimistic.

Smart industry players met the downturn/pandemic with capital expense cutbacks, but did not stop and continue looking for projects which make economic sense.
Such was the case with midstreamer MPLX. Second-quarter 2020 results were bad, with pipeline throughputs down roughly 15% from a year ago, and terminaling throughputs off approximately 26% year-over-year. For all of 2020, MPLX looks to reduce capital spending by more than $700 million.
But the company continues to invest in growth, according to Jason Stechschulte, MPLX Business Development Manager.
One such growth project is the Hopedale NGL storage caverns, which sits roughly midway between Shell’s massive cracker complex under construction in Western Pennsylvania, and Thailand-based PTT Global Chemical’s proposed cracker in southeast Ohio.

Hopedale, located on MPLX property in Harrison County, Ohio, already the site of a MPLX fractionator, will have NGL capacity of more than 5 million barrels. A big plus for the Hopedale site is it’s located in the middle of major NGL pipelines in the Tri-State region: Utopia, Atex, Teppco, Mariner East 2, Falcon and Cornerstone.
It’s, unfortunately, a well-known saying regarding government assistance for companies: “We’re from the government, and we’re here to help.”
Ironically, those words are true when it comes to the federal government and energy companies. Washington, D.C. is well aware of the potential the Appalachian Basin provides in terms of natural gas and natural gas liquids production and the impact said production can have on the petrochemicals and energy-intensive manufacturing industries, according to Chuck Zelek, Special Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Fossil Energy.

Billions of dollars in low-interest loans are available via multiple programs administered by the federal government, Zelek told the Utica Midstream audience.
For example, more than $40 billion in loan and loan guarantee authority for financing energy infrastructure via the Department of Energy Title 17 Innovative Energy Loan Guarantee Program.

Joe Barone
Shale Directories
+1 610-764-1232
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