Source: The Columbus Dispatch
Columbia Pipeline group said this morning it will build a 160-mile pipeline and support systems in Ohio and West Virginia to transport natural gas.
The company, which shares a corporate parent with Columbia Gas of Ohio, will spend $1.75 billion on the project, a substantial expansion of the systems that deliver natural gas produced from the Utica and Marcellus shale formations.
“We have been a part of Ohio and West Virginia for more than 100 years and have an unparalleled footprint in the Marcellus and Utica production areas,” Glen Kettering, CEO of Columbia Pipeline Group, said in a statement. “These newly announced investments reaffirm our commitment to this important region and will increase the capacity and flexibility of the Columbia Transmission and Columbia Gulf systems to further enhance transportation options for producers in Appalachia.”
The new pipeline, called the Leach Xpress, will increase the capacity of Columbia’s gas delivery system by 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day. It will be supported by long-term agreements with the following energy producers: Range Resources, Noble Energy, Kaiser Marketing Appalachian and American Energy Utica.
The pipeline route was not immediately available this morning.
Columbia Pipeline and Columbia Gas are both owned by NiSource.
This is the latest in a series of large investments by energy companies in assets to process and transport oil and gas from the Utica and Marcellus.