Dominion advances Appalachian Gateway project

Dominion has announced that it has requested the FERC pre-filing process for its proposed Appalachian Gateway Project, which is designed to transport natural gas produced in West Virginia and southwest Pennsylvania to storage fields and pipelines in Pennsylvania. Four new natural gas compressor stations would be constructed and upgrades would be made at two existing compressor stations, adding about 17,000 horsepower of compression to Dominion’s system.

About 110 miles of new pipeline would be built, beginning in West Virginia and terminating at the Dominion/Spectra Energy jointly owned Oakford facility in Delmont, Pennsylvania, east of Pittsburgh. The approximate cost for facilities in the FERC request is $600 million. Plans are for construction to begin in 2011 and to be in-service in 2012.

“Marcellus Shale and traditional production have increased the natural gas available from the Appalachian Basin,” said Gary Sypolt, chief executive officer of Dominion Energy. “The Appalachian Gateway Project will lessen the bottleneck currently preventing some of the natural gas produced in West Virginia and southwest Pennsylvania from getting to customers in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic who are in need of new supplies.” Sypolt said the project is fully subscribed by Marcellus Shale and other Appalachian natural gas producers. The total firm transportation delivery from the project is 484,260 dekatherms of natural gas per day.