Dive Brief:
- The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has informed Energy Transfer Partners that it must stop work on a portion of the 700-mile Rover Pipeline, until it is in compliance with its water quality permit.
- The work stoppage resulted from sediment and erosion control measures that did not comply with West Virginia water regulations. The issues were found during construction of the Sherwood Lateral and compressor station.
- The pipeline will transport up to 3.25 billion cubic feet /day of natural gas to markets in the Midwest, Northeast, East Coast, Gulf Coast and Canada. The pipeline is expected to be operational in November, and an ETP spokesperson told Reuters the company did not expect any changes to the timeline.
Dive Insight:
Energy Transfer's sprawling pipeline will move gas from the Utica and Marcellus shales into the domestic gas market. As gas production grows, the company expects it to increasingly come from non-traditional areas. The project calls for the installation of four new mainline compressor stations and a half dozen supply compressor stations.
According to ETP, domestic gas production is forecast to increase by 44% by 2040. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection's stop-work order, however, puts the pipeline's schedule in doubt. NGI also reports the DEP has filed its order with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Work is progressing on multiple segments at once, and will continue in areas not impacted by West Virginia's order. ETP told Reuters that it still expects to meet its November operational deadline for the final phase of the project, and didn't anticipate any timeline changes.
The pipeline will gather gas from processing plants in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania for delivery to the Midwest Hub near Defiance, Ohio. Almost 70% of the gas will be delivered via interconnects with existing pipelines in Ohio and West Virginia. About a third of the gas will be delivered to markets in Michigan through an interconnect with the existing Vector Pipeline.
