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Numerous gas projects in the federal regulatory pipeline
By Andrew Brown, Business Reporter for the Charleston Gazette-Mail
Several large interstate pipeline projects that would carry natural gas from the mineral rich counties of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia are winding their way through the federal regulatory process, with some possibly beginning construction as early as 2016.
In total, the seven separately planned projects, being built by four separate groups of companies, would include more than $16.4 billion of investment and the construction of more than 1,900 miles of 24- to 42-inch diameter pipeline that would cut through parts of West Virginia, Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and North Carolina.
Officials with the oil and gas industry believe the pipelines are the relief valve needed to help them recover from a precipitous decline in natural gas prices this year, which was caused by a glut in production nationally.
By creating a large network of pipelines that can export gas to markets in the Midwest, the Mid Atlantic and the Gulf Coast, industry officials hope they can inflate market prices in the region and, in turn, increase investment for new drilling projects.
"The key is getting to unserved and underserved areas," said Corky DeMarco, executive director of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association. "Once those projects are all built, it will allow us to produce at the rates we were a couple years ago."
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Numerous gas projects in the federal regulatory pipeline By Andrew Brown, Business Reporter for the Charleston Gazette-Mail
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