Dominion to expand West Virginia gas facilities

Dec. 17, 2009
Dominion will expand its natural gas gathering, processing, and liquids facilities in West Virginia in a project designed to increase efficiency, reduce pressures, and raise the system’s capacity to handle local production.

Christopher E. Smith
OGJ Pipeline Editor

HOUSTON, Dec. 17 -- Dominion will expand its natural gas gathering, processing, and liquids facilities in West Virginia in a project designed to increase efficiency, reduce pressures, and raise the system’s capacity to handle local production.

Dominion, of Richmond, Va., will complete three compression units currently under construction and, over the next 3 years, add nine units totaling roughly 7,000 hp. Dominion will install the additional compression in Harrison, Doddridge, Lewis, Gilmer, and Kanawha counties.

About 25 miles of replacement or new pipeline will be built as part of the project to address bottlenecks and increase delivery. Two new gas processing plants—a 10 MMcfd facility in Pleasants County, W.Va., and a 40 MMcfd facility in Lewis County—will increase Dominion's processing capacity to about 280 MMcfd from 230 MMcfd.

Dominion will also increase capacity of the Hastings extraction plant in Wetzel County, W.Va., by 60,000 gpd.

Dominion expects to complete the $253-million project by fourth-quarter 2012, paying for it with rates charged to producers.

The Rockies Express-East pipeline began deliveries to the Dominion system in July, displacing gas from Texas Gas Transmission, among others (OGJ, Sept. 7, 2009, p. 50).

Contact Christopher E. Smith at [email protected].