EQT Corp. now expects the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to come online in 2023, which could help narrow its natural gas price differentials and ease Appalachian takeaway constraints, but management acknowledged Thursday that the “specter of timing” continues to loom over the project.

EQT has capacity booked on the system and a stake in MVP’s lead sponsor Equitrans Midstream Corp, which expects the project to start up this summer. Equitrans is reviewing that timeline after a federal appeals court last week vacated MVP’s Endangered Species Act authorizations and set back construction further. 

The 303-mile, 2 Bcf/d system would move more Appalachian natural gas from West Virginia to the Southeast. EQT’s fourth quarter investor presentation assumes a mid-2023 start-up...