LNG News Editor:
Mountain Valley Pipeline spanning the states of Virginia and West Virginia and whose operator is Equitrans Midstream, a company currently the subject of a merger deal with LNG player EQT Corp., has formally started up to meet soaring demand and as the most politicised and delayed pipeline in North America.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) , whose final cost is estimated at $7 billion, said in a statement it was now online for interruptible or short-term firm transportation services from June 14 and would commence meeting long-term firm capacity obligations on July 1, 2024.
EQT, the largest shale-gas operator in the US Appalachian Basin, had entered into a definitive merger agreement with Equitrans Midstream in March 2024 creating a natural gas business with an initial combined enterprise value over $35 billion.
Merger contingent on start-up
The EQT-Equitrans transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2024 and was crucially contingent on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission letting the Mountain Valley Pipeline start operations and this has now happened.
Pittsburgh-based EQT has existing shale-gas operations in the Marcellus and Utica formations of western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.
EQT has also signed LNG accords including with the Texas LNG project at the Port of Brownsville owned by the leading infrastructure developer Glenfarne Energy Transition.
Equitrans stated that the Mountain Valley Pipeline was now part of a critical network of more than 300,000 miles of interstate and intrastate natural gas transmission pipelines transporting the natural gas that fuels modern America and the US economy.
“We are grateful for the ongoing professionalism and tremendous efforts of the federal and state agencies that worked tirelessly for many years to ensure MVP’s construction activities met or exceeded all applicable permitting requirements,” said Thomas F. Karam, Executive Chairman of Equitrans Midstream.
“In addition, we would not be commencing commercial operations were it not for the relentless advocacy and commitment of our federal and state elected officials,” said Karam.
Politicians praised
“In particular, the resolve and commitment of Senator Manchin who championed and declared MVP as being critical to our energy security and national security, and the dedication of Senator Capito, Congressman Reschenthaler, and Congresswoman Miller who recognized the essential benefits of MVP, including reliable, affordable access to domestic energy,” Karam declared.
Construction of the pipeline had been severely slowed by court challenges until a congressional spending deal was achieved in 2023 by Senator Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat from West Virginia who supported the project and who gained the consent for the pipeline from the Biden Administration.
President Biden on June 3, 2023, signed legislation that raised the nation's debt limit and ratified and approved all permits and authorizations necessary for the completion and initial operations of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
The completed natural gas pipeline, which has been in the design and construction stages since 2014, runs from the northwest of West Virginia to southern Virginia.
The pipeline is designed to transport natural gas from the prolific Marcellus and Utica shale regions to the growing demand markets of the mid-Atlantic and southeast regions of the US.
Natural gas demand
Mountain Valley is a 42-inch diameter pipeline that extends from Equitrans’s existing transmission and storage system in Wetzel County, West Virginia, to Transco Station 165 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia.
“Demand for natural gas in Southwest Virginia continues to grow, and the importance of MVP’s energy supply cannot be overstated,” said Paul Nester, President and Chief Executive of Roanoke Gas Co.
