$15 Billion in Pipeline Projects Coming to Appalachia in 2015
The natural gas boom in the Marcellus Shale region of West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania has resulted in $15 billion in proposed pipeline construction projects. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Rover Pipeline, Mountain Valley Pipeline and Leach XPress will distribute natural gas across the country and all are scheduled to begin construction soon, along with smaller pipelines to connect the 4 and transport liquid natural gas from the Marcellus Shale region in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio to the rest of the country.
The $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline, developed by Dominion Resources, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and AGL Resources, is planned to be 550 miles long with the 42-inch pipeline diameter. The pipeline’s proposed route runs through West Virginia; southeast across central Virginia, south through North Carolina to the border of South Carolina.
The $4.3 billion Rover Pipeline, developed by ET Rover Co., will be able to transport up to 3.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.
All of these new pipelines will go up against stiff activist opposition before FERC grants approval and will have to convince landowners, local governments and the EPA that they can be built and operated safely. Pipelines are very desirable for both drilling companies and processors as they eliminate expensive freight costs that are currently flooding the nation’s railways, a shortage that is also damaging commodities as producers of everything from coal to pork bellies are waiting longer for freight train cars.
Source: oilpricecom-$15 Billion in Pipeline Projects Coming to Appalachia in 2015
