U.S. Added 5 Billion Cubic Feet Per Day of Gas Pipeline Capacity in First Half of 2020: EIA

About 5 billion cubic feet per day of new natural gas pipeline capacity came online in the U.S. during the first half of 2020, according to an Aug. 24 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

At the same time an estimated 8.7 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of pipeline projects were canceled in 2020. Canceled projects include the 1.5 Bcf/d Atlantic Coast Pipeline planned to move supplies from the Marcellus and Utica plays to the Southeast, and the 0.65 Bcf/d Constitution Pipeline designed to transport northeastern gas production into New England.

The completed projects are expected to support growing natural gas demand markets in North America. Projects designed to connect additional supplies to existing infrastructure include:

• Cheyenne Connector Pipeline and Cheyenne Hub Enhancement Project, developed by Tallgrass Energy, adding 1.6 Bcf/d of capacity in total; the 70-mile Cheyenne Connector brings natural gas from eastern Colorado into the Cheyenne hub near the Colorado-Wyoming border.
• Cheniere’s 233-mile MIDSHIP Pipeline, bringing 1.1 Bcf/d of natural gas from western Oklahoma to the Bennington hub at the Oklahoma-Texas border, allowing supplies to serve growing southeastern demand.
• Three-pronged interconnections of the Waha hub that added more than 1 Bcf/d to western Texas, near Permian Basin production areas:

Northern Delaware Basin Expansion, a 0.32 Bcf/d expansion of the El Paso Natural Gas Transmission System to increase takeaway capacity out of the Delaware Basin.

Sendero Carlsbad Gateway Project, a 23-mile pipeline with a capacity of 0.40 Bcf/d connecting processing plants in southeastern New Mexico to the Waha hub.

South Mainline Expansion Project, a 0.32 Bcf/d expansion on EPNG, to deliver additional supplies to Arizona and Southern California markets; and the related 0.32 Bcf/d Sierrita Pima Expansion to increase the capacity on the Sierrita export pipeline from Arizona to the U.S. border with Mexico.

In addition to the aforementioned projects, which represent most of the new capacity, the second phases of the Sabal Trail Pipeline and Hillabee Expansion came online, boosting deliverability to Southeast markets. The Empire North Expansion Project, which expands supplies to western New York consumers began partial operations in June.