Williams is holding an open season for its Western Marcellus Pipeline Project, an expansion of the Transco interstate pipeline to provide incremental firm natural gas transportation to growing markets in the Mid-Atlantic and southeastern US by late 2018.
The Western Marcellus Pipeline Project will add from 1 bcfd to more than 2 bcfd of gas transportation capacity from receipt points in the western Marcellus and Utica supply areas to points as far south as Transco’s Zone 3 compressor station 65 in Mississippi and as far north as the proposed Zone 6 River Road point in Pennsylvania. The project would also connect Williams’ Ohio Valley Midstream processing and gathering system in northern West Virginia with the Transco pipeline.
The project will extend from the Rockies Express pipeline near Clarington, Ohio, and Williams Oak Grove processing plant in Marshall County, W.Va., to Transco compressor station 165 in southern Virginia. From there, mainline modifications would allow both northbound flow to the proposed River Road point and southbound flow to Station 65, through which Louisiana and Texas Gulf Coast markets would be accessible.
Results of the open season, which closes Sept. 29, will determine Western Marcellus Pipeline Project’s final capacity, scope, and cost. Transco is a wholly owned subsidiary of Williams Partners LP, of which Williams owns controlling interests and is the general partner.
EQT Corp. and NextEra US Gas Assets LLC earlier this week formed a joint-venture to connect the existing Equitrans gas transmission system in West Virginia to Transco compressor station 165 (OGJ Online, Sept. 3, 2014).