American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2015 - 106

from VOGA's perspective, we had a very
positive and productive legislative session."
Interstate Pipelines
According to Archer and Beth Stockner, the association's public relations
manager, VOGA is continuing to monitor
the status of two proposed interstate
pipeline projects: the Atlantic Coast
Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Stockner says that neither has finalized
its route, but VOGA supports both projects,
as a way to help underserved communities.
The association has written letters of support for the projects to Governor Terry
McAuliffe, and has registered support in
the respective Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission dockets.
Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC was
formed by Dominion, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and AGL Resources
to develop and own the pipeline. Dominion
will oversee the pipeline construction
and operations.
As of late May, ACP's route spanned
from north-central West Virginia, through
parts of north-central and southeastern
Virginia, and central North Carolina,
though the plans are pending FERC approval. On May 12, the ACP said it had
filed responses to public comments, in-

cluding responses to issues raised by the
environmental impact statement.
Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC is a
joint venture of EQT Midstream Partners
LP, NextEra US Gas Assets LLC, WGL
Midstream, and Vega Midstream MVP
LLC. EQT Midstream Partners will operate the pipeline and own a majority interest in the joint venture.
The pipeline will span 300 miles from
northwestern West Virginia to southern
Virginia, the company says. MVP is expected to provide at least 2 billion cubic
feet a day of firm transmission capacity
to markets in the Mid- and Southern-Atlantic states. The company notes MVP
will extend the Equitrans transmission
system in Wetzel County, W.V., to the
Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company's
Zone 5 compressor station 165 in Pittsylvania County, Va.

The State Of The Industry
Archer remarks that this is an "interesting and exciting time" for VOGA and
the commonwealth as a whole.
"Unfortunately, it also can be described
as a confounding situation," he says. "Environmental groups are becoming more
aggressive in speaking out against oil
and gas production and infrastructure expansion. People want more of our prod-

106 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

uct-they are not going to stop heating
their homes or flipping on their lights-
but, at the same time, fossil fuel opponents
want to stop development and deployment
of the cleanest American energy source."
Archer states that the association's
Public Education Committee continues
to orchestrate various community outreach
efforts to educate the public, such as
speaking before local groups, city councils
and county boards of supervisors. "It's a
proactive obligation we take seriously,"
he affirms. "Not everyone is against the
industry, but many people have questions-about production, about safety,
about resources, and so on. We want to
make sure those questions are answered
properly by knowledgeable people."
Archer and Stockner say VOGA membership remains consistent in both numbers
and participation. "We have about 235
members across the industry supply chain,
including production, transportation and
delivery of natural gas," Stockner says.
"We have been able to rely on our membership to accomplish our goals, including
legislative and regulatory issues, and
community education and outreach. The
association represents our industry well.
Working together, we have been able to
take what others see as challenges and

American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2015

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