Some items that caught the eye of reporter Kristy Foster Seachrist at the Marcellus-Utica Midstream Conference held by Hart Energy. Governor Tom Corbett also spoke at the conference, check out Shale is bringing jobs and money to Pennsylvania for complete coverage of the conference.
Approximately $130 to $210 billion will need to be spent through 2030 on midstream natural gas infrastructure in order to meet market needs.
There has been a rapid development of pipelines by a company called Blue Racer Midstream, which is a partnership between Dominion Gas and Caiman Energy. Blue Racer Midstream is concentrating on its western connector that will directly connect wells in Noble, Washington, Guernsey and Tuscarawas counties to the main line in West Virginia where natural gas and liquids can be processed.
There are 23 different oil and gas producers that have permitted shale wells in the Marcellus shale and Utica shale.
According to a presentation by Michael Schaal, U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. dependence on imported oil and other liquid fuels will decline dramatically by 2035. Information presented shows that the U.S. dependence on imported fuel liquids already declined in 2011 and the shale well production is considered in its infancy stages.
The Sheehan Pipeline Construction Company reported that it is using winches to hold bulldozers in place while pipelines are completed.
Robert A. Riess Sr., president and chief executive officer of Sheehan Pipeline Construction Company, said it is very important to work with the residents of the area they are working with in an area. He also said that traffic increases by tenfold when pipeline crews move in. He also said the idea of a normal construction schedule ended a few years ago when the shale boom began. Crews now work though out the year.
Jim Avioli, director of commercial development for NiSource, reported that the Big Pine gathering system located in Pennsylvania will be in service in six weeks. It is at least a 20-inch line that is 57 miles long.
The Hickory Bend Project in Mahoning County will be a $300 million investment by NiSource. It is currently under development and is expected to be gathering by the second quarter of 2013. It will be 50 miles of 20- to 24-inch gathering line. It will be the first mover of gas in northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania.
In addition, NiSource is building a cryogenic processing complex. It will be in operation by the fourth quarter of 2013.
