Range Sending Natural Gas Liquids to Canadian Cracker Plant

Range Resources is not waiting for a new multi-billion dollar cracker plant to be built in the Marcellus region to process the natural gas liquids they’re producing in the region. Instead, Range is going to send its natural gas liquids to Canada for cracking. Natural gas liquids contain ethane which can be processed or “cracked” to produce ethylene, a raw material used to make plastics.

Range joins Caiman Energy, the company operating the processing plant near Cameron [WV], in committing to send ethane to Sarnia, Ontario, Canada for use by the Nova Chemicals company at a cracker located there. Both companies will transport the ethane to Sarnia via the Mariner West Project pipeline project developed by Sunoco. This pipeline begins in the Pittsburgh area before running westward across Ohio. It then turns north to the Detroit area, where it crosses into Canada.

"To Range, this contract will help assure us that we can continue to ramp up our Marcellus Shale development in the liquid-rich area of the play," said John Pinkerton, chairman and chief executive officer of Range.

For the Range ethane, Sunoco will transport the liquid from the MarkWest Liberty processing and fractionation plant on the West Virginia border with Pennsylvania near Majorsville in Marshall County to Canada. Range sends some of the gas it pumps out of the ground to the MarkWest facility for processing.*

*The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register (Sep 9, 2011) – Ethane Going To Canada