In recent years, the government of Pennsylvania has faced enormous pressure to serve the oil and gas industry. Some legislators have been all too happy to help out, including some introducing bills that attempt to restrict peaceful protest of oil and gas pipelines. 

The industry has a lot at stake, and has spent heavily lobbying the government of Pennsylvania. This report hones in on the lobbying expenditures, disclosed in to the PA Department of State, by the companies involved with three ongoing major pipeline projects: the Mariner East, PennEast, and Atlantic Sunrise pipelines.

$37,710,325: GRAND TOTAL SPENT BY THE PENNSYLVANIA PIPELINE LOBBY, Q3 2012 - Q2 2018

$37.7 million is the grand total of lobbying expenditures disclosed to the Pennsylvania Secretary of State by the companies and organizations with financial interest in the Mariner East, PennEast, and Atlantic Sunrise pipeline projects.

This grand total includes:

• $11,593,448 spent by companies with significant financial interest in Mariner East 1, 2, and 2X

• $1,701,648 spent by companies with significant financial interest in Atlantic Sunrise

• $2,605,806 spent by companies with significant financial interest in PennEast

  • -$560,824 in expenditures from Cabot Oil & Gas, which is a shipper for both Mariner East and PennEast, in order to avoid double-counting (see highlighted "NOTE" below).

• $22,370,247 spent by trade associations representing the specific companies with significant financial interest in any of these three pipeline projects in PA.

MARINER EAST: $11,593,448

MARINER EAST TIMELINE:

Mariner East I open season was announced on August 9, 2012

Mariner East II pipeline open season announced in December, 2013. Antero Resources and Range Resources are both ME2 shippers,

Mariner East 2X “open season” prospecting began on September 10, 2015; construction was confirmed by Sunoco in Feb, 2017.

MARINER EAST COMPANIES:

ME1 shippers include:

• MarkWest  (see press release)

• Antero Resources and Range Resources

  • Range signed a 15 year contract to be the anchor shipper on the Mariner East 1 pipeline in September, 2012, committing to ship 40,000 of the pipeline’s total 65,000 barrels of NGL’s per day.

• CNX Resources and EQT Corp,

• Ineos and Rex Energy have interest via Range Resources

PA LOBBYING EXPENDITURES BY MARINER EAST COMPANIES:

$11,593,448 in PA lobbying expenses disclosed by ME's owner/operator & shippers

ETP, Sunoco LP, Sunoco Logistics, and Sunoco Pipelines spent $1,208,329 lobbying the PA government since August, 2012, the first open season for ME1.

• NOTE: This excludes spending from ETP in Q3, 2012, because ETP didn’t merge with Sunoco until October, 2012. References on ETP/Sunoco merger via Greenpeace and via ETP

Range spent $5,803,739 lobbying the PA government since September, 2012, when it signed an anchor shipper agreement.

EQT Corp spent $2,733,053 lobbying the PA government since ME1 open season was declared in August, 2012.

Consol Energy, CNX Resources and subsidiary CNX Gas Corp* spent $967,114 lobbying the PA government since ME1 open season in August, 2012:

• CNX Resources spent $5,495 lobbying in PA in 2018

• CNX Gas spent $398,782 lobbying in PA from Q3 2012 through Q1 2017

• Consol Energy spent $562,837 lobbying in PA from Q3 2012 through Q4 2017, when Consol spun off its gas operations as a separate company, CNX Resources.

*NOTE: Consol Energy was spun off as the coal subsidiary of CNX Resources in November, 2017. The above calculations include CNX Resources & CNX Gas Co expenditures before and after that time, but only includes Consol Energy expenditures before that time.

MarkWest spent $881,213 lobbying the PA government since it signed a contract as a ME1 shipper.

ATLANTIC SUNRISE: $1,701,648

ATLANTIC SUNRISE TIMELINE:

Williams declared open season on August 8, 2013 for the Atlantic Sunrise

ATLANTIC SUNRISE COMPANIES:

Williams Companies owns Transco, which is building the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline.

Williams disclosed to FERC several companies that signed contracts to ship products through the Atlantic Sunrise:

1. Anadarko Energy Services (owned by Anadarko Petroleum)

2. Cabot Oil & Gas

3. Chief Oil & Gas

4. Inflection Energy

5. MMGS Inc (owned by Mitsui & Co)

6. Seneca Resources

7. Southern Company Services (owned by Southern Company)

8. Southwestern Energy Services

9. WGL Midstream

PA LOBBYING EXPENDITURES BY ATLANTIC SUNRISE COMPANIES:

$1,701,648 in lobbying expenses disclosed by owner/operator & shippers of Atlantic Sunrise pipeline.

Along with Williams itself, three of the companies that Williams disclosed to FERC as Atlantic Sunrise shippers reported lobbying expenditures in PA:

• Williams spent $252,692 lobbying the PA government since announcing open season in August, 2013

• Anadarko spent $430,034 lobbying the PA government since Aug, 2013

• Cabot spent $723,155 lobbying the PA government since Aug, 2013

• Southwestern Energy spent $295,767 lobbying in PA since Aug, 2013

PENNEAST: $2,605,806

PENNEAST TIMELINE:

PennEast open season was announced in August, 2014.

PENNEAST COMPANIES:

PennEast Pipeline Company LLC was formed by 6 companies:

1. AGL Resources

2. NJR Pipeline Co (owned by New Jersey Resources)

3. PSEC Power

4. SJI Midstream (owned by South Jersey Industries, or “SJI”)

5. Spectra Energy (owned by Enbridge)

6. UGI Energy Services

PennEast’s website also currently lists Southern Company Gas as a co-owner.

The six companies that formed PennEast Pipeline Company LLC committed to half of the pipeline’s total shipping capacity, along with several other companies disclosed to FERC:

1. New Jersey Natural Gas Company (owned by New Jersey Resources)

2. PSEG Power

3. Texas Eastern Transmission (owned by Enbridge via Spectra)

4. South Jersey Gas Company (owned by SJI)

5. ConEd of New York

6. Elizabethtown Gas (owned by SJI)

7. UGI Energy Services

8. Cabot Oil & Gas

9. Talen Energy Marketing

10. Enerplus Resources

11. Warren Resources

12. NRG Rema

PA LOBBYING EXPENDITURES BY PENNEAST COMPANIES:

$2,605,806 in lobbying expenses disclosed by PennEast owners & shippers:

• PennEast Pipeline LLC spent $6,414 on lobbying in PA, since Q4 2017.

• UGI Energy Services spent $854,330 on lobbying in PA, since Q3 2014

• Spectra Energy (Enbridge) spent $397,200 on lobbying in PA since Q3 2014

• Cabot spent $560,824 lobbying the PA government since Q3 2014

  • NOTE: This $560k is excluded from the Grand Total figure, up top, because Cabot’s spending in this time frame is already included in Mariner East totals

• New Jersey Resources spent $118,685 lobbying in PA since Q3 2017. NJR owns NJR Pipeline co and New Jersey Natural Gas co.

• Talen Energy spent $276,081 lobbying the PA government since Q2 2017

• NRG Energy spent $392,272 lobbying in PA since Q3 2014

These time frames span from when the PennEast open season took place in Q3 2014 until the most recent available disclosures, Q2 2018.

TRADE ASSOCIATION LOBBYING: $22,370,247

$22,370,247 is the combined total spent lobbying in PA by oil & gas industry trade groups that represent companies with significant financial stake in the Mariner East, Atlantic Sunrise or PennEast pipelines.

These totals only include spending within the following parameters

1. Trade association members includes at least one company involved in ME, AS, or PE

2. Trade association spending has occurred since the announcement of the specific pipeline project that at least one of its members is involved with.

   • i.e. API doesn’t represent any ME companies, but it represents companies with stake in AS and PE, so the spending totals run from August, 2013--when AS was announced--until the present.

Marcellus Shale Coalition: $13,936,668

Marcellus Shale Coalition member companies include:

1. Mariner East companies: CNX Resources, ETP, EQT Corp, MarkWest, Range, and Rex Energy.

2. Atlantic Sunrise companies: Cabot, Chief Oil & Gas, Seneca Resources, Southwestern Energy, and Williams.

3. PennEast companies: Cabot, and UGI Energy.

MSC spent $13,936,668 lobbying in PA from Q3 2012 through Q2 of 2018. This time frame reflects when ME1 conversion was announced until the most recently available filing.

American Petroleum Institute: $7,084,737

API members include:

1. None of the ME companies

2. All of the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline companies: Williams, Anadarko, Cabot & Southwestern

3. Two of the PennEast shippers: Enbridge (Spectra’s parent company) and Cabot.

API has publicly advocated for all 3 of these PA pipeline projects.

API merged with America’s Natural Gas Alliance (below) in November, 2015. API does not include Range or Seneca among its current members.

API spent $7,084,737 lobbying in PA from Q3 2013 through Q2 2018. This time frame reflects the announcement of the Atlantic Sunrise project up until the most recent lobbying disclosures.

America’s Natural Gas Alliance: $261,119

ANGA members included:

1. Mariner East companies: Range Resources

2. Atlantic Sunrise companies: Anadarko, Cabot, Seneca Resources, and Southwestern Energy.

3. PennEast companies: Cabot

ANGA spent $261,119 lobbying in PA from Q3 2012 through Q4 2015. This timeframe reflects when ME1 conversion was announced until ANGA folded in late 2015.

ANGA merged with the American Petroleum Institute (above) in November, 2015. API does not include Range or Seneca among its current members.

Pennsylvania Petroleum Association (PPA): $409,069

Membership is largely undisclosed, but the owner of Mariner East has recently paid PPA:

• Sunoco sponsored the PA Petroleum Association conferences in 2018, 2017,

• Sunoco was listed among PPA’s sponsors in 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013.

• PPA is a member of the national Petroleum Marketers Association of America (PMAA), which lists Sunoco as a PMAA sponsor.

PPA spent $409,069 lobbying in PA from Q3 2012 through Q2 of 2018.  This time frame reflects when ME1 conversion was announced until the most recently available lobbying disclosure filings.

Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association: $640,749

PIOGA leadership since 2012 has included executives from:

• Mariner East companies: Range, Energy Transfer, and EQT Corp.

• Atlantic Sunrise companies: Seneca Resources, and Chief Oil & Gas.

• PennEast companies: South Jersey Exploration (a subsidiary of South Jersey Industries), and UGI Energy Services.

PIOGA spent $640,749 lobbying in PA from Q3 2012 through Q2 of 2018. This time frame reflects when ME1 conversion was announced until the most recently available filing.

American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers: $37,905

AFPM member companies include Mitsui & Co (formerly known as MMGS, a shipper for Atlantic Sunrise), and Ineos, the European chemical manufacturer that will be using NGL’s shipped to port by Mariner East.

AFPM spent $37,905 lobbying in PA. This time frame only includes the year 2018, as AFPM did not file any lobbying disclosure reports in previous years.