Reversals

With natural gas production in Marcellus/Utica on a steep upward curve, midstream companies are developing plans to rework their existing pipelines or build new ones to help move the region’s gas to market. No stone is being left unturned. Today we conclude our five-part series on moving Marcellus/Utica gas south and west with a look at Columbia Pipeline Group and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners plans, sum up the takeaway capacity being added in the 2014-17 period, and explore whether additional pipeline-network enhancements will be needed after the current round of projects is up and running.

Natural gas production in the Marcellus/Utica region continues to increase sharply. Appalachian gas is already dominating markets in the Northeast – helped by a series of infrastructure projects already largely in place or underway. Now producers in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia need to reach additional customers to their south and west--including potentially the biggest prize of all, the LNG export terminals being developed on the Gulf Coast. Gas pipeline takeaway capacity out of Marcellus/Utica has been added in fits and starts to date, but the need for new southern and western outlets for gas from the region is now evident, and midstream companies are planning long line, bi-directional projects with a combined capacity of more than 9 Bcf/d. In this new series, we consider this next round of pipeline projects out of the Marcellus/Utica.