Change in Location for MarkWest Processing Plant in Ohio
A new natural gas processing plant to be built by MarkWest Energy was supposed to be built in Monroe County, Ohio, but the geography has now shifted west and the plant will be built in neighboring Noble County, Ohio instead.
An official with Denver-based MarkWest Energy said Tuesday that plans now call for the plant to be constructed in Noble County, but he did not have information on the reasons for the change…
In an interview with The Intelligencer in Wheeling, W.Va., Randy Nickerson, chief commercial officer and senior vice president for MarkWest Energy, commented briefly on the switch.
"We thought it would be better to move it slightly to the west, so that puts it in a different county," he said.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich announced in February that MarkWest was planning to construct natural gas-processing plants in Harrison and Monroe counties, along with a fractionation, storage and marketing facility in Harrison. The facilities are part of a joint venture with the Energy & Minerals Group to develop infrastructure for drilling programs in the Utica shale formation beneath eastern Ohio.
They are expected to create more than 40 long-term jobs with MarkWest, along with as many as 700 construction jobs.
No official announcement of the change could be found on the company’s website, www.markwest.com. However, a PDF presentation on the site dated March 20 makes reference to a Noble facility.
Officials in both Monroe and Noble counties said they were surprised by the change.
MarkWest has not announced a timeline for construction of the Noble County facility, but the presentation indicates it will be operational this year. Its initial capacity will be about 10 million cubic feet per day, increasing to 200 million in 2013.*
*Marietta (OH) The Marietta Times (Mar 28, 2012) – Energy firm switches plant to Noble Co.