Recently, the Toledo Blade reported that natural gas prices have fallen to their lowest since 1996. According to the article, “Warmer weather and burgeoning stockpiles of natural gas have pushed prices this month down to their lowest point for gas this month of the year since 1996.”
The Coalition for the Expansion of Pipeline Infrastructure finds it concerning that natural gas prices remain so low. While it may appear to be a boon for consumers in the short-term, we fear that producers could throttle back on production due to present market conditions, ultimately sending prices back upward. And erratic energy prices are bad for everyone – from producers to consumers, volatility in the market only serves to create obstacles.
In order to stabilize prices and ease access, we need to construct midstream infrastructure to transport these “burgeoning stockpiles” from storage facilities to market. Projects such as the Rover Pipeline would do just that – the proposed route will transport gas from processing plants in West Virginia, eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania for delivery to pipeline interconnects in West Virginia and eastern Ohio as well as the Midwest Hub near Defiance, Ohio, where up to 68 percent of the gas will be delivered for distribution to markets across the United States.
The Coalition supports projects like Rover because they will directly address issues of energy access and affordability, all while creating construction jobs and providing tax revenues throughout the region. For these reasons, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should provide an expedient review of such opportunities.