Columbia Pipeline Group to Invest $1.75B in Ohio, W.Va.
HOUSTON -- Columbia Pipeline Group Tuesday announced it would $1.75 billion in infrastructure that include two significant projects, one of which is construction by Columbia Transmission of a new natural gas pipeline in Ohio and West Virginia.
Columbia Pipeline Group is a unit of NiSource Inc. The pipeline would enhance Columbia’s infrastructure in place and support natural gas supply development in western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia and eastern Ohio.
The project will enable Columbia to transport up to 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Marcellus and Utica shale plays to markets served by its Columbia Gas Transmission and Columbia Gulf Transmission pipeline systems. Columbia Pipeline anticipates it will begin construction of both projects in fall 2016, with a targeted in-service date sometime in the second half of 2017.
"We have been a part of Ohio and West Virginia for more than 100 years and have an unparalleled footprint in the Marcellus and Utica production areas," said Glen Kettering, CEO of Columbia Pipeline Group, in a prepared statement. "These newly announced investments reaffirm our commitment to this important region and will increase the capacity and flexibility of the Columbia Transmission and Columbia Gulf systems to further enhance transportation options for producers in Appalachia. In addition, this investment will further support our commitment to economic growth and development by creating new project-related jobs and generating ongoing tax revenue for local communities."
The proposed Ohio and West Virginia pipeline, known as Columbia Transmission's Leach XPress project, is supported by long-term firm service agreements with Range Resources-Appalachia LLC, Noble Energy Inc., Kaiser Marketing Appalachian LLC and American Energy Utica-LLC. The project, which involves construction of some 160 miles of pipeline, compression and related facilities on Columbia Transmission's system, will provide access to several Marcellus and Utica receipt points and establish a substantial new header system to serve the heart of the Appalachian supply basin.
As production volumes continue to grow in the Marcellus and emerging Utica shale plays, Columbia Transmission has been working closely with natural gas producers to provide new transportation options to move gas out of the capacity-constrained supply basin and into the interstate market. The Leach XPress project will increase the capacity of Columbia Transmission's system by 1.5 billion cubc feet per day and move regional gas supplies to markets, including its interconnect with Columbia Gulf in Leach, Ky. By connecting production areas to Columbia Transmission's mainline system, the project will allow producers access to high-demand energy markets and support delivery of affordable, domestic energy for consumers, the company said.
A second project included in the investment, supported by long-term service agreements with the same four shippers, will provide those shippers additional capability to efficiently transport Appalachian production to markets via Columbia Gulf, which spans a corridor that stretches from the Gulf Coast to Appalachia. Columbia Gulf's Rayne XPress project primarily involves the addition of compression to Columbia Gulf's existing pipelines to provide transportation of over 1.0 Bcf/D for the project shippers. The project is supported by long-term firm shipping contracts.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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