A proposed pipeline project to move Midwest shale natural gas to the southern coast has just been announced by US energy company Williams and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners.
The plan is to transport natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica plays to hubs along the Louisiana and Texas coast for possible exports.
The Bluegrass pipeline would include construction of a new pipeline from West Virginia and Ohio and conversion of existing pipe from Kentucky to Louisiana. The pipeline is designed for 200 000 bpd of natural gas liquids, which could eventually increase to 400 000 bpd to meet market demand.
Williams President Alan Armstrong noted that shale developments in the region are being hampered by the lack of export infrastructure.
"The current infrastructure challenge with natural gas liquids in the northeast is slowing drilling and isolating liquids supplies from the robust markets in the gulf that are poised to grow substantially over the next five years," he said in a statement.
"We are delighted to be working with Williams on this exciting project," said Stan Horton, President and CEO of Boardwalk. "We believe that the unique arrangement of this planned project would create several strategic advantages, including a faster in-service date complemented by a significantly reduced construction footprint than could be achieved with a completely organic project."
Making up the natural gas boom in the US, the Utica and Marcellus shale plays are among the most profitable in the country.
Late last year, investment bank FBR Capital Markets warned that production in the Marcellus shale play will decline from 2.3 billion ft3/d to 1.3 billion ft3/d because of the lack of export facilities.
The proposed pipeline is subject to regulatory approval, and the two companies expect to sanction the project this year and place the planned project into service in H2, 2015, assuming all necessary conditions are met.
Edited from various sources by Cecilia Rehn