The transportation subcommittee of the Governor’s Marcellus to Manufacturing Task Force met Wednesday, June 8, 2011 to discuss transportation infrastructure in regard to moving ethane from drilling locations to potential cracker plant locations in West Virginia.
Will West Virginia get an ethane cracker plant? While more than one possible plant is rumored, it was said at today’s meeting, “The Marcellus in West Virginia could definitely support one world class cracker plant.”
The existing infrastructure of NiSource, Dominion, EQT, and Caiman Energy’s pipelines was discussed in relation to how capable they are in transporting ethane or ethylene throughout the state.
Infrastructure needed to transport ethane and ethylene could include pipelines that would run from Hastings to Kanawha County, specifically Institute. Possible cracker plant locations mentioned in recent published reports include Institute and New Martinsville. Bob Orndorff, of Dominion, predicted that it would take approximately one year to build the necessary pipeline from Hastings to Institute.
Once the ethane is at a cracker plant, storage becomes the next issue, as Jim Crews pointed out. Mr. Crews, of NiSource, also serves as President of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association (WVONGA).
Besides Crews and Orndorff, Task force members at the table included Kurt Dettinger, Governor Tomblin’s General Counsel, Patrick Donovan, Executive Director of the West Virginia Public Port Authority, Don Garvin, Legislative Coordinator at the West Virginia Environmental Council and Jack Lafield, President and CEO of Caiman Energy.
In addition to pipeline transportation, Patrick Donovan noted that rail and barge could be an option for both the Wetzel and Kanawha County locations. The committee determined that maps of current transportation infrastructure of both the natural gas companies and the transportation sector must be merged in order to better predict which location would be most beneficial.
Discussions on securing a cracker are in their infancy. But bringing these players to the table to work out the transportation piece of the puzzle is important to see this potential economic boon come to fruition for the state.
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