Natural gas production continues to reach record highs, communities across the country are reaping the economic benefits, and we are able to protect our national security by exporting the precious resource to our allies abroad. Our pipeline infrastructure is expanding to match, with several projects becoming active in recent weeks, and others expected to come online in the near future. As Tim Rudell of WKSU writes:
“Activity in Ohio’s Utica Shale play has been slowly increasing in 2017 as long-term infrastructure projects, like pipelines and processing plants, have come on line.
Facilities to process production from Utica shale wells, and pipes to move it to customers, have been under construction for years.
Shawn Bennett of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association says those are now mostly in place or will be soon.”
One project which has recently come online is the Rover Pipeline, which will be able to increase our pipeline capacity by billions of cubic feet per day. The Columbus Dispatch reports that:
“The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has told Dallas-based Energy Transfer it can use its completed 42-inch diameter, 191-mile long pipeline from Carroll County in eastern Ohio to Defiance in northwest Ohio. A twin 42-inch diameter line remains under construction for the $4.2 billion Rover pipeline project.”
Projects like the Rover Pipeline, and others that will soon begin transporting gas from the Utica shale to the rest of the country, are extremely important. We need to keep our infrastructure even with our production in order to fully maximize the potential of our natural resources. CEPI is excited to see these projects come to fruition, and we’re excited for a continued focus on our necessary pipeline infrastructure.