PITTSBURGH, Pa. - EQT Corp., one of the Marcellus Shale region's largest natural gas exploration, production and midstream companies, on Sept. 21 announced that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has given its subsidiary, Equitrans, L.P., notice to proceed with construction of a new natural gas pipeline in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
As part of its ongoing Marcellus capacity expansion, Equitrans will begin construction of its project Sunrise, which is comprised of the installation of approximately 41.5 miles of 24-inch-diameter pipeline and 2.7 miles of 16-inch-diameter pipeline running from Wetzel County, W. Va., to Greene County, Pa., as well as a new compressor station near Jefferson in Greene County.
The Sunrise pipeline system will generally parallel existing Equitrans facilities, thereby reducing its environmental footprint, and is expected to be operational before summer 2012.
The Sunrise Project will expand Equitrans' existing mainline transmission system to address the rapid development of natural gas from both the liquids rich and dry areas of the Marcellus Shale formation in the central Appalachian Basin. The pipelines interconnect with MarkWest's Mobley processing complex will provide producers a cost-effective option to transport liquids-rich natural gas to pipelines serving the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern markets as well as local distribution companies and on-system storage.
"We are excited to begin construction of the Sunrise project; when completed, the pipeline will provide the critical infrastructure necessary to facilitate continued development of Marcellus acreage in northern West Virginia," said Randy Crawford, senior vice president and president, Midstream, Distribution and Commercial.
