December 2013, Vol. 240 No. 12

Projects

JV Plans 380-Mile Diluent Pipeline

Unity Pipeline Company, LLC, a Harvest Pipeline Company, Somerset Gas Transmission Company and Crossroads Pipeline Company, part of NiSource’s Columbia Pipeline Group, are holding a two-phase open season for prospective shippers seeking transportation service on its proposed, 380-mile diluent pipeline.

Phase 1, a non-binding open season, will provide prospective shippers an opportunity to quantify their interest in the Unity Pipeline, which will carry condensate and natural gasoline to serve markets in Canada. Phase 1 of Unity’s open season began Nov. 4, and concluded Dec. 20.

Phase 2, a binding open season, will provide prospective shippers the opportunity to submit offers for firm, long-term transportation service and will be held in 2014.

Plans call for the Utility Pipeline project to use new and existing infrastructure to connect a new source of diluent supply from Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia to ever-increasing demand in Western Canada.

Following sufficient producer interest resulting from the open season periods, the projected pipeline will consist of a new 12-inch pipeline from Kensington, OH to connect to Somerset’s existing North Coast Pipeline originating at Mantua, OH. The pipeline will further connect to the Crossroads Pipeline at Cygnet, OH, and ultimately will terminate in Griffith, IN, at an interconnection with Explorer Pipeline. The North Coast and Crossroads pipeline systems, which currently transport natural gas flowing west to east, will be reversed and converted from natural gas transportation service to diluent transportation service.

In addition to the diluent mainline, a new gathering system will also be constructed to gather diluent products from the Marcellus and Utica regions. This system will deliver light condensate and natural gasoline to an interconnection with Unity Pipeline in Kensington, OH.

“The Unity Project will provide the rapidly growing Canadian market with the most cost-effective access to light condensate and natural gasoline from both the Marcellus and Utica Shale Plays,” said Steve Jacobs, president of Harvest Pipeline. “This open season is in response to the significant interest expressed by producers in the U.S. and Canada.”