Move over, everyone; the line-up of pipelines seeking to take Rocky Mountain natural gas to the Northeast just go a bit longer. El Paso Corp.’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline and Equitable Resources Inc. Monday unveiled plans to build another pipeline project from the terminus of the Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) in Ohio to Northeast gas markets.

The two energy companies plan to develop the “Northeast Passage Project,” a 471-mile, 36-inch diameter line with an initial capacity of 1.1 Bcf/d, as well as 70,000 horsepower of compression. The proposed pipeline would extend from the terminus of the nearly 1,700-mile REX in Clarington, OH, to a new interconnect with Iroquois Gas Transmission at Pleasant Valley, NY. The project is targeted to be in service on Nov. 1, 2011, subject to regulatory approval.

The pipeline also would interconnect with Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line, Texas Eastern Transmission, Algonquin Gas Transmission and Millennium Pipeline, according to El Paso and Equitable. And it would interconnect with Tennessee’s Gulf Coast mainline in Ohio, providing access to Midcontinent, Appalachian and Gulf Coast supplies, including liquefied natural gas.

To meet the planned in-service date, Tennessee said it will hold an open season for capacity on the line through Jan. 17, 2008.

“The Northeast Passage Project will provide critical new energy infrastructure to transport natural gas directly to citygates and strategic pipeline interconnects in the Northeast and Pennsylvania markets, while providing an alternative supply source for declining Canadian supplies,” said Bryan Neskora, senior vice president and chief commercial officer at Tennessee.

The proposed pipeline “will have access to the newly resurgent Appalachian Basin where Equitable is the technological leader in horizontal drilling and in providing natural gas gathering and transportation infrastructure,” said Equitable CEO Murry Gerber.

In November, two other companies — Dominion Transmission and National Fuel Gas Co. — unveiled potential projects that would use the Ohio terminus of REX as a jumping-off point to eastern markets for Rockies supplies.

Under the Dominion Hub III Project, existing firm transportation customers of Dominion Transmission will have the opportunity to move their firm receipt rights to a planned interconnection with REX at Clarington. Customers would retain their existing delivery points to move these supplies to growing Northeast markets (see Daily GPI, Nov. 19). The Hub III project is a response to a growing interest in Rockies supplies by customers on the Dominion system, the pipeline said.

And National Fuel Gas said it was seriously exploring the prospect of building a 324-mile pipeline to deliver Rockies gas from Ohio to the Corning, NY, market. National Fuel’s project, called the “West to East Project,” would be the largest ever tackled by the company. Similar to competing projects, it would deliver to New York markets the Rockies natural gas that will be transported by REX (see Daily GPI, Nov. 13). The third and final leg of REX, known as REX East, will end at Clarington.

National Fuel’s proposed line, which would move up to 700,000 Dth/d, would be a link between REX and the Millennium Pipeline that is under construction, according to National Fuel’s Julie Coppola Cox. And in addition to Rockies gas, she said the pipeline would tap into gas supplies from Appalachia. The company held its first open season in March of this year. The company anticipates that the project, which would cost up to $725 million, will be ready for operation by 2010-2011.

Other pipelines, including REX, have had the same idea — to take Rockies gas beyond Clarington. In September, Williams’ Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line announced plans to build the proposed Rockies Connector Pipeline, which would extend approximately 250 miles, connecting Transco’s Station 195 in York County, PA, to the eastern terminus of the REX line (see Daily GPI, Sept. 27). The company expects the pipeline to transport approximately 688,000 Dth/d. Firm transportation service is anticipated to be available by November 2010.

In late October, REX launched an open season to solicit market interest for its Northeast Express Project, a 375-mile extension that would carry gas from the original REX endpoint in Clarington to Princeton, NJ (see Daily GPI, Oct. 30). In September, Spectra Energy’s Texas Eastern Transmission completed an open season for its proposed Northern Bridge, which would carry Clarington-bound gas supplies to the Philadelphia-Camden, PA, metropolitan area (see Daily GPI, Sept. 5).

REX is being built in three sections. The first 328-mile segment of REX, which runs from the Meeker Hub in Rio Blanco County, CO, to the Wamsutter Hub in Sweetwater County, WY, and to the Cheyenne Hub in Weld County, CO, is in service and has a current capacity of 500,000 Dth/d. REX West, the segment from Cheyenne Hub to Audrain County, MO, is scheduled to begin service by Jan. 1, 2008. REX East, the segment from Audrain County to Clarington, is in the permitting stage and is expected to begin interim service as early as Dec. 30, 2008, and to be fully operational by June 2009, according to Rockies Express.

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