In April of this year, Mountaineer NGL Storage announced an open season for a new underground NGL storage facility in Monroe County, Ohio, near Clarington, along the Ohio River (see New Company Announces Open Season for NGL Storage in Ohio Utica). Natural gas liquids (NGLs), including ethane, would be stored at the facility. It is a key, missing component in a plan to build at least one, and likely more than one ethane cracker plants in the region. Storage facility for both natural gas and NGLs is a critical part of natural gas infrastructure. Mountaineer recognized the fact that the Marcellus/Utica will need such a storage facility. A month after the open season, Mountaineer announced it was successful and that they would move forward with the project (see Mountaineer NGL Storage Open Season Successful, Development Begins). An important, initial step in building such a storage facility has now taken place. Mountaineer completed a test well in the salt formation–testing it for thickness. The test was a success. Construction is planned for the latter part of next year…
