Firms outline plans to build two Marcellus gas pipelines

Aug. 18, 2014
Two companies recently relayed plans for the construction of two different pipelines that would transport natural gas production from the Marcellus and Utica shale area to markets in Ohio, West Virginia, and New Jersey.

Two companies recently relayed plans for the construction of two different pipelines that would transport natural gas production from the Marcellus and Utica shale area to markets in Ohio, West Virginia, and New Jersey.

First, PennEast Pipeline Co. LLC reported plans to construct a $1-billion, 100-mile pipeline extending from Luzerne County in northeastern Pennsylvania to Transco's Trenton-Woodbury interconnection in New Jersey.

Separately, Columbia Gas Transmission (CGT), part of NiSource Inc.'s Columbia Pipeline Group, reported plans to build a 160-mile gas pipeline, Leach XPress, in Ohio and West Virginia, supporting gas supply development in western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, and eastern Ohio.

PennEast line

PennEast says the pipeline would transport as much as 1 bcfd of gas produced in the Marcellus shale to Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Construction could begin in 2017.

PennEast will begin preliminary engineering studies in the coming months, along with a formal application for the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

"This project serves to meet that growing demand in the Mid-Atlantic marketplace, while providing greater system resiliency and reliability for local utilities," said John Walsh, UGI Corp. president and chief executive officer.

UGI Corp. unit UGI Energy Services (UGIES) is the project manager for the development of the project and will operate the pipeline.

Partners in the PennEast project include AGL Resources, New Jersey Resources subsidiary NJR Pipeline Co., South Jersey Industries, and UGIES.

Leach XPress line

The Leach XPress project is supported by long-term firm service agreements with Range Resources Appalachia LLC, Noble Energy Inc., Kaiser Marketing Appalachian LLC, and American Energy-Utica LLC (AEU).

CGT describes the 1.5-bcfd pipeline as providing access to multiple Marcellus and Utica receipt points and establishing a new header system serving the Appalachian supply basin. It will interconnect with NiSource's Columbia Gulf Transmission pipeline in Leach, Ky. The same four shippers are also underpinning Columbia Gulf's Rayne XPress project, which will boost the line's capacity by 1 bcfd through additional compression.

AEU recently completed the acquisition of 27,000 net acres in Monroe County, Ohio (OGJ Online, Aug. 5, 2014).

CGT has begun outreach to landowners and communities in areas where the projects will take place. The company expects construction of both projects to start fourth-quarter 2016, with a targeted in-service date of second-half 2017, pending regulatory approvals.

Leach XPress and Rayne XPress will cost a combined $1.75 billion.