Tulsa’s Williams company announced it’s executed binding, 15-year commitments from two companies to transport natural gas through its proposed Leidy South expansion project along the East Coast.
The commitments came from Seneca Resources Company, LLC and Cabot Oil and Gas Corporation. The two agreed to fill the line at 100 percent for the 580 million dekatherms of natural gas.
Williams said the commitments will further connect natural gas in the Marcellus and Utica producing region in Pennsylvania with growing demand centers along the Atlantic Seaboard. The gas should be available by the fourth quarter of 2021 if regulatory approvals are made.
The Leidy South Expansion project is part of Transco, the nation’s largest-volume interstate natural gas pipeline system. It delivers natural gas to customers through a nearly 10,000-mile pipeline network. The mainline extends about 1,800 miles between South Texas and New York City and provides natural gas to U.S. markets in 12 Southeast and Atlantic Seaboard states.
The Leidy South project is being designed to further expand the Transco pipeline’s Marcellus and Utica takeaway capacity from the Leidy Hub and Zick interconnect to points downstream in Transco’s Zone 6 market area.
“Since 2013 the Transco pipeline’s design capacity has grown by 62 percent, while its Marcellus takeaway capacity has increased by approximately 3 billion cubic feet per day,” said Frank Ferazzi, Senior Vice President of Williams’ Atlantic-Gulf Operating Area. “The Leidy South project allows Williams to continue to grow our strategic footprint in the gas-rich Marcellus region, creating a unique opportunity to expand Transco by leveraging recent expansions on Williams’ Northeast Gathering & Processing assets in Pennsylvania.”
The Leidy South project will consist of compression and looping of existing Transco facilities in Pennsylvania. The project will also include two lease agreements; one with National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation from Leidy Hub to Clermont, Pennsylvania; and a second with Meade Pipeline Company from Zick to River Road on the Central Penn Line.
The preliminary schedule for project permitting activity begins with Transco’s planned submission in October of its request to commence the pre-filing process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The project will not impact Williams’ 2019 growth capital expenditures guidance.