Pipeline applications to transport Marcellus Shale gas appear to dominate at FERC, which last week issued orders clearing the way for both the construction of the MARC I Hub Line project in northeastern Pennsylvania and the expansion of Texas Eastern Transmission’s (Tetco) mainline system in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Inergy subsidiary Central New York Oil & Gas Co. LLC (CYNOG) is ready to move forward with construction of the MARC I Hub Line project — which is expected to give northern markets greater access to Marcellus Shale gas — following a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) order granting the project a certificate of public convenience and necessity.

“We are ready to begin construction and expect to be in service next summer,” Inergy CEO John Sherman said during a conference call with analysts last week.

The project calls for the construction of a 39-mile, 30-inch diameter pipeline in three counties in northeastern Pennsylvania — Bradford, Sullivan and Lycoming — as well as installation of a 15,300 hp Northern Compressor Unit at CNYOG’s NS2 Compressor Station in Bradford County, and a 16,360 hp Southern Compressor Unit at CNYOG’s M1-S Compressor Station in Sullivan County. The project would have about 550,000 Dth/d of firm capacity.

The proposed MARC I Hub gas transmission line would connect to Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s (TGP) Line 300 and Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line’s Leidy Line, as well as existing Stagecoach laterals that tie in with Millennium Pipeline. The project would clear the way for gas produced in the northeastern Pennsylvania counties to be stored at CNYOG’s Stagecoach Gas Storage facility near Oswego, NY.

CNYOG’s related North-South Project was placed in service late last month, enabling shippers to transport up to 325 MMcf/d bidirectionally on a firm basis from the Millennium Pipeline to Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s 300 Line. North-South “is currently flowing volumes in excess of firm commitments from Tennessee to Millennium,” Sherman said. “We recently completed an open season on our North-South II expansion and extension project, which returned favorable results in excess of 300,000 Dth/d of additional incremental volume. We expect this will lead to a doubling of the capacity of the North-South project, and result in our shippers having access to Tennessee, Millennium, Dominion, Iroquois and, with completion of the MARC I pipeline, Transco.”

Stagecoach, which is located about 150 miles northwest of New York City, is the closest natural gas storage facility to the Northeast market and anchors Inergy’s storage platform with 26.25 Bcf of working gas storage capacity. Inergy also operates the Thomas Corners facility in Steuben County, NY, which has 7.0 Bcf of working gas capacity; the Steuben Gas Storage facility in Steuben County, NY, which has 6.2 Bcf of working gas capacity, and the Seneca Lake Gas Storage facility in Watkins Glen, NY, which has 1.5 Bcf of working gas capacity with planned expansion to 2.0 Bcf.

FERC Thursday issued a certificate to Tetco to expand its mainline system in southwestern Pennsylvania to transport Marcellus Shale gas to markets in the Northeast.

The TEAM (Texas Eastern Appalachia to Market Appalachia) project calls for the construction of pipeline looping and facility modifications on various segments of Tetco’s mainline between the Holbrook and Marietta Compressor Stations in Green and Lancaster counties, resulting in 200,000 Dth/d of additional capacity from receipt points on Tetco’s system in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania to delivery points in Tetco’s market area. All told, the project entails 17.3 miles of 36-inch diameter pipeline and a net increase of 20,720 hp of compression at the Bedford Compression Station, raising the station’s total certificated hp to 54,600 hp from 33,880 hp.

According to the FERC order, Tetco has executed precedent agreements with Range Resources-Appalachia LLC for 150,000 Dth/d of firm transportation and Chesapeake Utilities Corp. for 40,000 Dth/d of firm transportation services, with primary terms of 16 years and 15 years, respectively. Chesapeake’s firm transportation entitlement will increase to 50,000 Dth/d one year after the project goes into service, Tetco said [CP11-67].

The TEAM expansion, which Tetco estimates will cost $197 million, is expected to go into service in November 2012.

The approval of the MARC I and TEAM projects come on the heels of FERC’s recent order giving Empire Pipeline Inc. the green light to place into service a major interconnection on its Tioga County Extension Project to transport Marcellus Shale production in Pennsylvania to the U.S.-Canadian border. That order cleared the way for Empire to begin service on the interconnection with Tennessee Gas Pipeline in Hopewell, NY, but Empire still is awaiting FERC approval to place into service the entire 15-mile Tioga County Extension and other components of the project, including a 1.36-mile lift-and-lay segment near Victor, NY, and the repiping at the Oakfield Compressor Station and the old and new Victor stations [CP10-493].

Northeast Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale producers got some relief from sagging prices and an outlet for their gas when El Paso Corp.’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. placed its long-awaited Line 300 forward-haul expansion in service, increasing capacity on the Tennessee system by 350 MMcf/d, a nearly 50% boost (see NGI, Nov. 7) FERC approved start-up of the expansion Oct. 28. And National Fuel Gas Co. recently completed two related projects that added 150,000 Dth/d of capacity in Washington and Green counties, PA, to carry Marcellus gas to markets.

The Tioga County Extension and other projects due to come online this month will provide the Marcellus with nearly 1.0 Bcf/d of increased takeaway capacity, and natural gas pipeline takeaway capacity will more than double its current level by 2013, according to Bentek Energy LLC (see NGI, Oct. 31).

Through Oct. 31, three times more pipeline mileage has been added compared to the comparable period in 2010, according to FERC’s latest energy infrastructure update. That includes the Marcellus projects and others nationwide, including Northern Border Pipeline’s 120 MMcf/d Prince Lateral Project in Princeton, IL.

All told the Commission gave the go-ahead for six pipeline projects to start up in the month of October, adding 620 MMcf/d of new capacity and 181.7 miles to the grid, according to the Commission’s Office of Energy Projects (OEP). A total of 27 pipeline facilities, with a total capacity of 11.75 Bcf/d, were placed in service through Oct. 31 of this year, compared to 24, with a total capacity of 7.6 Bcf/d, for the same period in 2010, OEP said.

An estimated 1,724 miles of new pipeline have been added so far this year, more than triple the 506 miles that were built in the comparable period in 2010, OEP noted.

©Copyright 2011Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.