A 12-inch diameter, 38-mile natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline to be built in a portion of Ohio’s Utica Shale would be capable of delivering 90,000 b/d, Pennant Midstream LLC said Monday.

The $60 million link would connect the Hickory Bend Cryogenic Processing Plant in New Middletown to the Utica East Ohio Midstream LLC (UEO) Kensington facility in Columbiana County. NiSource Midstream Services LLC operates Pennant, which is jointly owned by Hilcorp Energy Co.’s Harvest Pipeline Co.

“The construction of new infrastructure is critical to unlocking the potential of the Utica Shale play in Ohio,” said NiSource Midstream CEO Jimmy D. Staton. “This partnership will not only provide a key link in that infrastructure, it will provide economic-related benefits for companies and residents of Ohio and the Appalachian Basin.”

The pipeline, scheduled to be completed in July, initially would deliver wet gas to the UEO line that originates in Columbiana County. Existing UEO infrastructure would transport the liquids to the fractionator at the UEO Harrison Hub in Harrison County.

UEO is a joint venture between M3 Ohio Gathering LLC, EV Energy Partners LP and Access Midstream Partners LP, which is planning to invest nearly $1 billion over the next five years to develop an integrated midstream services complex in eastern Ohio (see Shale Daily, Dec. 13, 2012).

The Kensington facility and a fractionator near Scio, OH are part of the UEO buildout in Ohio (see Shale Daily, July 29; April 18).

Access CEO J. Mike Stice said in August UEO initially would have 800 MMcf/d of wet gas processing capacity in Ohio and 135,000 b/d of fractionation, with on-site liquids working storage of 870,000 bbl (see Shale Daily, Aug. 5).

“This project is an important milestone in advancing the development of the Utica Shale formation in Ohio,” said Harvest President Steve Jacobs of the latest project by Pennant.