The company behind the massive 3.25 Bcf/d Rover Pipeline LLC project wants to add new connections to the pipeline system as it works to de-bottleneck the Appalachian shale gas region.
In two separate abbreviated applications filed June 8, Energy Transfer Partners LP, or ETP, asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for permission to add a new meter station and a new receipt point to the 511-mile Rover pipeline project.
The Iron Bank meter station in Marshall County, W.Va., which would be built on Rover's Majorsville lateral, would cost about $6.8 million and would receive up to 500,000 Dth/d of pipeline-quality natural gas from an interconnection with the gathering pipeline facilities of producer, APP Midstream LLC. APP, which would reimburse ETP for the project's costs, is building a Casterly Rock-to-Castle Black pipeline project that would interconnect with the meter station.
The Revolution receipt point project in Washington County, Pa., would allow for Rover's Burgettstown lateral to receive up to 525,000 Dth/d from an ETP-affiliated line that carries regional production. The project would use an existing side tap on the lateral and would require no construction work nor costs since the side tap was installed during construction of the lateral.
The gas would come from ETC Northeast Pipeline LLC, which will connect its Revolution Pipeline system to Rover via the side tap. ETC, an ETP affiliate, bought about 20 miles of intrastate pipe in Butler County, Pa., from EdgeMarc Energy Holdings LLC in 2015 and has since built about 100 miles of rich-gas gathering pipelines in western Pennsylvania. Revolution built a meter station that abuts Rover's Burgettstown compressor station with the plan to deliver gas into the Burgettstown lateral. Local producer EdgeMarc Energy Holdings LLC signed a contract with ETP to use the systems in order to deliver its gas to Midwest and Canadian markets.
Rover asked FERC to authorize both projects by Sept. 1. The developer is expecting a shortened commission review of the projects since Rover determined neither project will result in a significant impact on the environment. The developer also said it does not anticipate using eminent domain for either project.
FERC determined in the Feb. 2, 2017, certificate order which authorized the Rover pipeline that the developer could not file additional or amended requests for the project under a blanket authorization. Instead, Rover must ask the commission to consider any additional requests for the project on a case-by-case basis. FERC approved a previous request for an additional compressor station in West Virginia in about four months. (FERC docket CP17-464)
The Rover pipeline has received partial service authorizations from FERC in 2017 and 2018. Full commercial service on the whole $4.2 billion pipeline is expected by the end of the second quarter. (FERC docket CP15-93)
