MarkWest Expands Marcellus Shale Gas Processing Capacity in West Virginia & Pennsylvania

MarkWest Liberty Midstream & Resources—also known as MarkWest Energy—announced today it is expanding its processing and fractionation capacity in the Marcellus Shale in West Virginia (Marshall County) and Pennsylvania (Washington County). What exactly does that mean, and why should landowners care? MarkWest is a “midstream” company, providing processing, storage, transportation and marketing for natural gas. Think of midstream companies as bridges between energy companies that do the drilling, and the large pipelines that deliver natural gas to buyers. Along the way the gas must get from the well to a processor where it’s cleaned up and separated into different products. There are different types of chemical compounds in “natural gas” and impurities must be removed before it’s saleable. MarkWest provides processing, fractionation (a separation process), pipelines, compressor facilities and more.

The MarkWest announcement means drillers will have more capacity to clean up, transport and market the gas they discover. More capacity expands the market. The MarkWest announcement says they have “reached definitive agreements” which will allow them to expand operations, but it does not say which energy companies those agreements have been made with.

From the MarkWest press release:

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