El Paso Corp. is considering adding pipeline infrastructure to carry gas from northeastern Pennsylvania to an interconnection near Albany, NY, following a nonbinding open season that was held last year.

“We envision a late 2014 in-service date,” El Paso spokesman Richard Wheatley told NGI’s Shale Daily. “But we’re very early in the evaluation stage for a possible project and have been having initial discussions with local and state officials in advance of any initial survey work taking place.”

The company’s interstate system in the region is operated by its Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC.

“We believe that more pipeline capacity is needed in the U.S. Northeast in order to move natural gas supplies to consuming markets,” Wheatley said. “In coming years, New York/New Jersey and East Coast consuming markets are predicted to experience substantial increases in average day and peak day natural gas demand that will require additional delivery capacity.

“The majority of the expected demand growth will come from increased natural gas usage for power generation, including switching from coal-fired generation to natural gas due to environmental concerns. At the same time, imports to the Northeast from Canada are forecasted to decline.”

There was no more information available about the potential project, which Wheatley emphasized is in preliminary stages. Tennessee has been working on a number of projects to move gas out of the Marcellus as supplies there have been overwhelming available capacity (see Shale Daily, Feb. 21; Nov. 2, 2011).