Rover Natural Gas Pipeline Bounds Ahead with FERC Drilling Approval

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--With federal approval to resume horizontal directional drilling after a five-month delay in Ohio, Energy Transfer Partners (NYSE:ETP) (Dallas, Texas) expects Phase 1 of the Rover natural gas pipeline to be fully in service by the end of the year. Industrial Info is tracking 28 individual projects relating to the pipeline, which ran into state and federal regulatory issues earlier this year.

Energy Transfer Partners announced Tuesday that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the company's request to resume horizontal directional drilling along the pipeline route.

Problems for the project arose in April as a result of a 2 million-gallon spill of bentonite-based drilling fluid over 6.5 acres of wetland in Ohio. The spill, which was contaminated with diesel fuel, occurred while Energy Transfer's Rover Pipeline LLC was performing horizontal directional drilling under the Tuscawaras River. In May, FERC ordered a halt to drilling at Rover project sites where drilling had not already started. For related information, see August 10, 2017, article - Energy Transfer Keeps Other Projects Going as it Deals with Rover Headaches and May 12, 2017, article - Here's (Drilling) Mud in Your Eye: Regulatory Troubles Not Over for Rover.

Drilling operations on nine horizontal directional drilling locations are expected to begin within the week, Energy Transfer Partners said, with an emphasis on the Captina Creek horizontal directional drilling in Belmont County, Ohio. The completion of the Captina Creek drilling will allow the full Phase 1 portion of Rover from Seneca, Ohio, to Defiance, Ohio, to be placed into service by the end of the year.

The Phase 1A portion of the pipeline from Cadiz, Ohio, to Defiance, Ohio, was put into service on August 31. For more information, see September 5, 2017, article - Rover Natural Gas Pipeline in Ohio Begins Partial Service.

The Rover Pipeline is designed to transfer up to 3.25 billion cubic feet per day about 710 miles from the Marcellus and Utica areas to markets in the Midwest, Northeast, East Coast, Gulf Coast and Canada, with direct deliveries to Ohio, West Virginia, Michigan, and into the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada, which has a broader network of distribution points back into the U.S. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on the Ohio, Michigan and West Virginia portions of the pipeline.

Industrial Info is tracking nearly $15.6 billion in active capital projects involving Energy Transfer Partners. This includes plans for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and up to three liquefaction trains, each with a capacity of 5.5 million tons per year. Construction of the initial liquefaction train would kick off in late 2018, with completion in late 2021. In June, Energy Transfer Partners announced a memorandum of understanding with South Korea-based Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) to study the feasibility of joint participation in the Lake Charles project. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

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