A new and interesting trend is beginning to happen in the Marcellus/Utica region: flexible pipelines. No, we don’t mean natural gas pipelines traditionally manufactured from steel are now being manufactured with a new material–we mean the flows of gas moving along pipelines is starting to reverse and flow in the opposite direction, depending on the time of year.
In wintertime the northeast uses more natural gas than can be produced in the Marcellus/Utica alone, and as has been the case for decades, pipelines bring gas supplies into the northeast from other areas of the country. However, with the explosion of production coming from the Marcellus/Utica, at other times of the year the Marcellus/Utica produces more than enough gas, and so some pipelines are starting to upgrade so they can flow the gas in the opposite direction. However, as industry giant Rusty Braziel notes, it ain’t easy to just change directions…
