National Fuel Gas Supply Corp. (Supply), the pipeline and storage segment of National Fuel Gas Co., is conducting an open season until Sept. 12 for capacity in the Appalachian corridor in southwestern and central Pennsylvania that will provide transportation and storage services to Northeast market interconnects including Ellisburg, Leidy and Corning.

The open season features a newly proposed pipeline system, the Appalachian Lateral, to provide interstate pipeline infrastructure to move gas supplies produced from the Marcellus Shale and other Appalachian producing horizons to growing Northeast markets. The open season will also provide shippers the opportunity to access incremental storage capacity of 8.5 Bcf via Supply’s planned expansion of certain of its existing fields. The storage capacity will be offered in a complementary open season in the near future.

The scope and size of the Appalachian Lateral will be determined after the close of the open season. It could run up to about 350 miles through the Marcellus Shale fairway to connections with existing facilities. The Appalachian Lateral may serve as a complement to Supply’s previously announced West-to-East project, which is designed to move Rockies Express gas supply from Ohio to the Northeast. Results from a 2007 open season for the West-to-East project were robust and market interest remains strong for new facilities to be built in this region where exploration and production activity, particularly in the Marcellus Shale, is increasing, the company said.

“Many of our pipeline and storage assets are located in the heart of the Appalachian region and provide ready and flexible opportunities for new storage and transportation services to accommodate new production from this region, as well as growing demand in the Northeast,” said Ronald J. Tanski, president of National Fuel Gas Supply.

Additional information is available at www.nationalfuelgas.com or by calling National Fuel’s interstate marketing department at (716) 857-7740. The open season will close at 11 a.m. EDT on Sept. 12.

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