EQT Midstream Partners LP (EQM) said Wednesday it wants to expand Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to serve more natural gas customers in North Carolina, with a targeted in-service date for a new project of 4Q2020.

MVP

Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC has launched a binding open season for MVP Southgate through May 11, which would be anchored by a firm capacity commitment from Scana Corp. subsidiary PSNC Energy. The project would require Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval.

Southgate as designed would receive gas from the MVP mainline in Pittsylvania County, VA, and extend 70 miles to new delivery points in Rockingham and Alamance counties, NC. PSNC serves a 28-county service territory in North Carolina, including the Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill areas and has more than 550,000 gas customers in the state.

The MVP Southgate project “underscores the need for improved access to a low-cost, reliable supply of natural gas from the Appalachian Basin that will support the increasing demand for energy by consumers and industrial markets in the southeast United States,” said EQM CEO Jerry Ashcroft.

EQM said the open season was launched to provide other market participants with an opportunity to subscribe to the expansion. The company said that it would determine the “final project scope” once the open season has ended. More information can be obtained on the project website.

MVP is currently under construction, with an in-service date of 4Q2018 expected. The 300-mile pipeline would move 2 Bcf/d from West Virginia to Virginia and connect with the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line to move more Marcellus and Utica shale volumes to Southeast markets. It is a joint venture between EQM, NextEra US Gas Assets LLC, Con Edison Transmission Inc., WGL Midstream and RGC Midstream LLC.