EIA reports on new natural gas pipelines in the US

More than 40% of this new pipeline capacity – 7.2 billion ft³/d – delivers natural gas to locations within the South Central region. Many of these pipeline projects will provide additional takeaway capacity out of the Permian Basin in western Texas or enable additional Permian natural gas production to reach the interstate pipeline system. Some of these pipelines include:

Kinder Morgan’s 2 billion ft³/d Gulf Coast Express Pipeline, which provides takeaway capacity from the Waha Hub in the Permian Basin (near the Texas-New Mexico border) to demand markets on the Gulf Coast at the Agua Dulce Hub.

ONEOK'S Roadrunner Eastbound Expansion, which added about 1 approximately billion ft³/d of bidirectional capacity on the pipeline, and the 300 million ft³/d WesTex Expansion, which added northbound takeaway capacity out of the Permian Basin.

El Paso Natural Gas Pipeline’s 320 million ft³/d Northern Delaware Basin Expansion Project, which is still under construction and will add additional capacity to the El Paso system in western Texas, allowing additional volumes to flow westward on the system.

The remainder of the natural gas pipeline projects slated for completion in the South Central region in 2019 will deliver natural gas to demand centres, in particular to LNG export facilities on the Gulf Coast. Cheniere’s 1.4 billion ft³/d MIDSHIP Pipeline is still under construction. When completed, it will connect natural gas supply from Oklahoma to the Sabine Pass LNG facility in Louisiana, providing additional sources of secure supply to the export terminal.

The Texas East Transmission Company (TETCO) completed expansions to its existing pipeline infrastructure during the 2Q19, including the 400 million ft³/d Stratton Ridge Expansion, for additional deliveries to the Freeport LNG facility on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Source: US Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Pipeline Projects Tracker. Note: Projects labelled as in service are in service as of 1 November 2019.

The only pipeline project in the South Central region in 2019 that moves natural gas outside its region is the 2.6 billion ft³/d Valley Crossing Pipeline, which exports to markets in Mexico. This pipeline connects to the newly built Sur de Texas-Tuxpan pipeline, a 497 mile underwater project that was also completed in 2019 and transports US natural gas to the southern Mexican state of Veracruz.

After the South Central region, the Northeast region built the most additional natural gas pipeline capacity in 2019, providing additional outlets for natural gas produced in the Appalachian Basin. Most of this new pipeline capacity is the result of projects that were originally slated to enter service in 2018.

The largest projects in the Northeast already completed in 2019 are Millennium Pipeline’s 223 million ft³/d Eastern System Upgrade Project, which increased deliverability to customers in Pennsylvania and New York, and Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company’s 190 million ft³/d Rivervale South to Market Project, which increased deliverability into the New York City market.

The remainder of the new pipeline capacity in the Northeast connects natural gas supply to the NEXUS pipeline in the Midwest (the completed Appalachia Lease Project Phase 2) or to market hubs within the Northeast.

Additional information on these and other natural gas pipeline projects is available in EIA’s Natural Gas Pipeline Project Tracker, which is updated quarterly.

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