From November 2020 through January 2021, about 4.4 bcfd of new natural gas pipeline capacity entered service, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Natural Gas Pipeline Project Tracker.
Projects recently completed include the Saginaw Trail pipeline, the Buckeye Xpress project, the Permian Highway pipeline, and the Agua Blanca expansion project.
Consumer Energy’s $610 million intrastate Saginaw Trail Pipeline entered service in late November 2020. The project replaced and expanded natural gas pipelines and infrastructure in Saginaw, Genesse, and Oakland counties in Michigan, increasing natural gas capacity by 0.2 bcfd.
Columbia Gas Transmission’s (CGT) 0.3 bcfd Buckeye Xpress Project began operations in December 2020. The $709 million project involved infrastructure improvements and replaced 66 miles of existing natural gas pipeline with more reliable 36-in. pipe in Ohio and West Virginia. The project increases transportation capacity out of the Appalachia basin into CGT’s interconnection in Leach, Ky., and the TCO Pool in West Virginia.
Kinder Morgan’s Permian Highway pipeline entered service in early January. The 430-mile pipeline brings 2.1 bcfd of additional natural gas capacity from the Waha Hub in West Texas near production activities in the Permian basin to Katy, Tex., near the Gulf Coast. It has additional connections to Mexico.
Whitewater/MPLX’s Agua Blanca expansion project, which entered service in late January, connects to nearly 20 natural gas processing sites in the Delaware basin. It transports an additional 1.8 bcfd of natural gas to the Waha Hub in West Texas. The project also will connect with the Whistler pipeline, which is scheduled to be completed in third-quarter 2021 and is expected to move 2.0 bcfd of natural gas from the Permian basin to the Texas Gulf Coast.
One project no longer in the works is the Permian Global Access pipeline. In December, Tellurian withdrew its application to build the pipeline, effectively canceling the project. The proposed 2.0 bcfd project would have transported natural gas from the Permian basin to a proposed liquefied natural gas facility in Gillis, La.