September 28 - Reuters : In recent years, U.S. production of natural gas has soared, turning the country from a net importer of the fuel to an exporter, largely due to growth in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.
Along with that 60% growth in output over the past decade, numerous proposed pipeline projects to move this gas to markets in the Midwest and Northeast and to points south to export terminals to ship liquefied natural gas overseas as LNG or LNG.
However, many proposed pipelines to deliver gas to nearby locations have been scuttled in recent years, running into local opposition to fossil fuel infrastructure, regulatory problems or protests from environmental groups.
The most recent casualty was the PennEast pipeline from New Jersey to Pennsylvania, which would have drawn gas from the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania.
A source of U.S. dry gas has jumped from more than 4.7 billion cubic feet per day in 2011 to around 34.9 bcfd now, representing more than a third of the 91.4 bcfd of appalachian dry gas produced in 2020.
One billion cubic feet of gas is enough for about 5 million U.S. homes for a day.
I will address some of the recent projects that have run aground or failed to get started, along with a few significant pipelines that took extra time to complete.
The $8 billion Atlantic Coast pipeline was being constructed from West Virginia to meet growing demand for gas in Virginia and North Carolina. The 2100 - mile 966 km project was originally started in 2018 and was designed to carry 1.5 bcfd of natural gas.
However, the costs overruns, legal battles and permits issues during the Trump administration caused Dominion Energy Corp and Duke Energy Corp to eventually decide to cancel the project.
The pipeline would have provided enough gas to about 7.5 million people a day in U.S. homes.
This pipeline was originally projected as another one that would have extended from the West Virginia to Virginia route.
The 303 - mile line will cost about $6.2 billion and bring enough gas to roughly 10 million homes a day.
When MVP began construction in February 2018, it estimated the 2.0 - BCFD project would cost about $3.5 billion and start service by late 2018. Now, MVP expects the project to run in 2022 during the summer of this year.
This long-in-the works project faced steady opposition from New York State lawmakers, particularly ex-Gouverneur Andrew Cuomo.
Williams Cos Inc's 95 - mile Constitution line would have carried enough gas for about 325 million homes per day.
Constitution went to New York state regulators to build the line in 2013 but was unable to secure permits for water crossings. PennEast was under development for several years, but was canceled due to a lack of permits in September 2021.
PennEast decided to stop development even though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June in its favor in a lawsuit allowing the line to seize state-owned or controlled land in New Jersey.
The 120 - mile pipe would have cost about $1.2 billion and was designed to distribute 1.1 bcfd from the Marcellus shale to customers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
When federal energy regulators required NFG in February 2017, when FEMA approved the project, Federal Energy Board required to put the pipe into service by February 2019.
NFG was not able to get all necessary permits from New York and has since asked federal regulators for more time to finish the project. So far, federal regulators have sent NFG, which has not started work on the project, until February 2022 to put the pipe into service.