In early April, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Kosciusko Junction Pipeline Project in Mississippi (see FERC Issues DEIS for Boardwalk Pipe to Carry M-U Gas to Southeast). The project belongs to the Gulf South Pipeline Company, LLC (a subsidiary of Boardwalk Pipelines) and involves constructing approximately 110 miles of 36-inch natural gas pipeline. It will carry molecules from several shale plays, including the Marcellus/Utica, to markets in the Southeast. The original in-service date was supposed to be April 28, 2028. That date has been somewhat modified. Read More “Boardwalk Offers Temporary Capacity Along Pipeline to Southeast”
Owensboro (KY) Municipal Utilities (OMU) is studying a proposed 545-megawatt natural gas power plant on roughly 30 acres at the former Elmer Smith Station site along the Ohio River, where coal generation ended in 2020. The developer, Green River East GenCo, holds an option to lease and has filed a grid interconnection application. OMU hired GDS Associates for a six-month study funded by the developer. OMU General Manager Tim Lyons stressed that the early-stage project isn’t guaranteed and that OMU won’t own the roughly $1 billion plant, citing customer risk. Instead, the plant may pursue power purchase agreements ahead of joining the MISO market in 2027. The plant will employ 15–20 workers. Read More “Gas-Fired Power Plant on the Ohio River Proposed for Owensboro, KY”
The Kosciusko Junction Pipeline Project, led by Gulf South Pipeline Company, LLC (a subsidiary of Boardwalk Pipelines), involves the construction of approximately 110 miles of 36-inch natural gas pipeline. The project has an estimated cost of $1 billion and is supported by a 20-year agreement with an anchor customer. It is designed to transport up to 1.16 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) initially, with the potential to expand to 1.58 Bcf/d. The pipeline aims to connect gas supplies from key basins, including the Marcellus/Utica, Haynesville, and Fayetteville, to power markets in the Southeastern United States. In December 2024, Boardwalk pulled the trigger and made a final investment decision (FID) to move forward with the Kosciusko Junction project (see Boardwalk FID on Pipe to Carry M-U, Haynesville Gas to Southeast). Yesterday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a positive Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the project. Read More “FERC Issues DEIS for Boardwalk Pipe to Carry M-U Gas to Southeast”
Gulf South Pipeline Company, a subsidiary of Boardwalk Pipelines, announced the launch of an open season for new natural gas storage capacity at its flagship Petal Gas Storage complex in Mississippi. In addition to the Petal open season, Boardwalk also highlighted significant expansion potential across two cornerstone assets: Choctaw Storage in Louisiana and the Midland Storage Complex in Kentucky. All three storage facilities are used to store Marcellus/Utica molecules. Read More “Gulf South Pipeline Open Season to Expand Southeast NatGas Storage”
It’s always fun for us to discover a new pipeline project that has the potential to flow more Marcellus/Utica molecules to other markets—particularly the Southeast and Gulf Coast markets. Here is one such project that (until now) had escaped our notice. On Dec. 29, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Southeast Compression for Utility Reliability Expansion (SECURE) Project, a compressor-focused expansion project designed to enhance compression infrastructure across Mississippi and Louisiana for the Gulf South Pipeline Company. The project will expand the Gulf South Pipeline system to provide an extra 280,000 dekatherms per day (Dth/d) of firm natural gas transportation service (280 MMcf/d) to markets in the Southeast, including support for power generation customers. Read More “FERC Favorable Enviro Assessment for Southeast Pipe Expansion”
Regional and national indicators are driving optimism in the Marcellus/Utica Basin, which currently supplies 31% of U.S. natural gas. Despite recent constraints from low prices and limited pipeline capacity, drillers like Infinity Natural Resources and Expand Energy now predict significant output growth coming in the new year. This resurgence is fueled by surging in-basin demand from AI data centers, major power plant conversions in Pennsylvania, and improved takeaway prospects, such as Boardwalk’s proposed Borealis pipeline to the Gulf Coast (see Texas Gas Project to Build ~180 Miles of Greenfield Pipe in OH Utica). By leveraging AI-driven drilling efficiencies and accelerating deep Utica development, companies are aggressively expanding to meet rising local and national energy demand. Read More “All Signs Point to an Increase in M-U Production Coming in 2026”
We’ve pointed out (for years) the relative success the anti-drilling left has had in blocking new pipeline projects to carry Marcellus/Utica molecules to other regions, stifling new drilling in our area as a result. Although it has been and will continue to be a challenge to build new pipeline projects, the Trump administration is making it easier. Trump’s policies encourage new pipelines and more access to natural gas. We spotted an article from Reuters that provides an overview of eight pipeline projects that are actively being pursued to carry M-U molecules to other regions. We’ve covered all of these projects in previous posts. The Reuters article compiles the most likely candidates for new pipeline projects into a single, convenient article. Read More “8 Proposed Pipeline Projects to Carry Molecules From M-U Region”
Last week MDN brought you the great news that Boardwalk Pipeline Partners launched an open season to offer an extra 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of capacity along its 5,975-mile Texas Gas Transmission pipeline network that stretches from Ohio to Louisiana, running through Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Arkansas along the way (see Texas Gas Pipe Expanding to Flow Extra 2 Bcf/d of M-U Gas to La.). What we didn’t know at the time (not referenced in the Boardwalk announcement) is that the Borealis Natural Gas Pipeline Expansion Project, as it is called, will include building roughly 180 miles of new greenfield pipeline that spans nearly the entire length of Southern Ohio. Read More “Texas Gas Project to Build ~180 Miles of Greenfield Pipe in OH Utica”
This is VERY exciting news! Boardwalk Pipeline Partners announced yesterday an open season to offer an extra 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of capacity along its 5,975-mile Texas Gas Transmission pipeline network that stretches from Ohio to Louisiana, running through Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Arkansas along the way. According to the announcement, the expanded capacity’s express purpose is to connect Marcellus/Utica gas supplies with growing demand from electric utilities, LNG exporters, industrial users, and data centers in the Midwest and Gulf Coast. Read More “Texas Gas Pipe Expanding to Flow Extra 2 Bcf/d of M-U Gas to La.”
Southeastern U.S. states (click for larger version)
AI data centers are increasingly being built in the Southeastern U.S. due to economic, infrastructural, and environmental factors that make the region attractive for such facilities. One key reason is the availability of affordable and reliable energy—i.e., natural gas (mostly from the Marcellus/Utica). The Southeast offers relatively low electricity costs compared to other parts of the country, which is critical for data centers that require massive amounts of power to run high-performance computing systems like those needed for AI workloads. Additionally, the region’s energy infrastructure is often robust enough to support the high demands of these facilities, though expansion is sometimes needed. Speaking of expansion, because of the Southeast’s attractiveness, there are seven new pipeline projects (from four pipeline companies) aimed at flowing more natural gas to the region, mainly to help service power generation for data centers. Read More “7 Gas Pipelines Target Southeastern U.S. from 4 Midstream Cos.”
The Kosciusko Junction Pipeline Project, led by Gulf South Pipeline Company, LLC (a subsidiary of Boardwalk Pipelines), involves constructing approximately 110 miles of 36-inch natural gas pipeline. The project has an estimated cost of $1 billion and is supported by a 20-year agreement with an anchor customer. It is designed to transport up to 1.16 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) initially, with potential for expansion to 1.58 Bcf/d. The pipeline aims to connect gas supplies from key basins, including the Marcellus/Utica, Haynesville, and Fayetteville, to power markets in the Southeastern United States. Last week, Boardwalk pulled the trigger and made a final investment decision (FID) to move forward with the Kosciusko Junction project. Read More “Boardwalk FID on Pipe to Carry M-U, Haynesville Gas to Southeast”
It’s been three years since we’ve written about Texas Gas Transmission’s (TGT) Northern Access Supply Project. TGT is a big pipeline network owned and operated by Boardwalk Pipeline Partners. Originally built from the Louisiana Gulf Coast to the upper Midwest, the purpose of the pipeline system was to supply Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio with natural gas. Then the Marcellus/Utica Shale happened and TGT needed to change strategies. Read More “Texas Gas Gives Up on Portion of M-U to Gulf Coast Pipe Project”
We write about Boardwalk Pipeline Partners every now and again. They don’t have a lot of pipelines in the Marcellus/Utica region–but what they do have is important. One of the pipelines operated by Boardwalk is the huge Texas Gas Transmission (TGT)–originally built from the Louisiana Gulf Coast to the upper Midwest to supply Illinois, Indiana and Ohio with natural gas. But then the Marcellus/Utica Shale happened and TGT needed to change strategies. Through a series of projects, TGT made the pipeline system bidirectional, so it could flow gas from the Marcellus/Utica to points south, going as far as the Gulf Coast. In May 2016 TGT began to flow up to 626 million cubic feet per day of Marcellus/Utica gas as far away as the Gulf Coast (see 626 Mmcf/d of Northeast Shale Gas Begins Flowing to Gulf Today). Little known fact: About half of that gas, some 300 Mmcf/d, goes to Cheniere’s Sabine Pass LNG export plant, where it’s super-cooled into LNG and shipped to other countries. Boardwalk is in a multi-year process of expanding TGT by another 384 MMcf/d of capacity. In April 2017, the company asked FERC for an extension to complete the project, until 2020 (see Texas Gas Asks FERC for Extra 2 Yrs on Northern Supply Access Proj). We bring you all of that information to point out Boardwalk’s importance to our region, and to introduce the news that the parent company that owns most of Boardwalk, Loews Corp., is in the process of “buying out” the MLP (master limited partnership) units it doesn’t already own, and then removing all MLP units (i.e. shares) from public trading. In other words, it’s going private. Why? Due to the Trump tax cut and subsequent FERC ruling that makes MLPs much less attractive as a form of organization than they once were… Read More “Boardwalk Pipeline Parent Taking Co. Private, Dissolving MLP”
Texas Gas Transmission (TGT) is a big pipeline network owned and operated by Boardwalk Pipeline Partners. Originally built from the Louisiana Gulf Coast to the upper Midwest, the purpose of the pipeline system was to supply Illinois, Indiana and Ohio with natural gas. Then the Marcellus/Utica Shale happened and TGT needed to change strategies. Through a series of projects, TGT made the pipeline system bidirectional, so it could flow gas from the Marcellus/Utica to points south, going as far as the Gulf Coast. One of the primary projects to accomplish that objective is called the Northern Access Supply Project, which first landed on our radar in Sept. 2015 (see Northern Supply Access Proj. Expands OH to Gulf Pipeline Capacity). Northern Access Supply was authorized by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in March 2016 to “construct a new compressor station in Hamilton County, Ohio and make modifications at eight existing compressor stations in, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana in order to enable Texas Gas to provide an additional 384,000 million British thermal units (“MMBtu”) per day of firm transportation service primarily in a north-to-south direction on Texas Gas’s system while maintaining Texas Gas’s current ability to flow gas south-to-north.” FERC gave TGT two years to get the work done (deadline March 2018). While some of the work has been done, not all of it has–and now TGT is asking for more time–an additional two years (to March 2020) to complete the project. Why? Because one of shippers contracted to use 100,000 MMBtus of that capacity (or 26% of the increased capacity) has filed for bankruptcy and can’t fulfill its commitment. So TGT wants to delay the final work until it has more customers for the other 100,000 MMBtus of capacity… Read More “Texas Gas Asks FERC for Extra 2 Yrs on Northern Supply Access Proj”
Ohio-Louisiana Access Project map – click for larger version
Fantastic news! More Marcellus and Utica Shale gas will begin flowing to the Gulf Coast, beginning today. Some of that gas will go to the Sabine Pass LNG (liquefied natural gas) export facility owned by Cheniere Energy–the first such facility to (recently) begin exporting natural gas to other countries. In October 2014 Boardwalk Pipeline Partners filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reverse the flow on a 690-mile segment of their Texas Gas Transmission pipeline to begin carrying Marcellus and Utica Shale gas from the northeast to the south (see Texas Gas Seeks to Reverse Flow of Pipeline from OH to LA). In September 2015 FERC approved the project, called the Ohio-Louisiana Access Project (see FERC Approves Important Utica-to-Gulf Coast Pipeline Reversal). Today the pipeline reverses and Sabine Pass is the foundation shipper–beginning to accept 300 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d) of yummy and wholesome Marcellus and Utica Shale gas… Read More “626 Mmcf/d of Northeast Shale Gas Begins Flowing to Gulf Today”