Canadian energy company Enbridge Inc on Wednesday sought permission from U.S. energy regulators to put the remaining part of its Texas Eastern Appalachian Lease (TEAL) Phase 1 natural gas pipeline in Ohio into service.
In a filing with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Enbridge said it expects to complete work on the last part of the $200 million TEAL project by Oct. 26 and would like FERC to approve of its request by Oct. 30.
The facilities Enbridge is seeking to put into service include about 4.4 miles (7.1 kilometers) of new 36-inch (91-centimeter) pipe and other equipment.
TEAL is one of several gas pipelines designed to connect growing output in the Marcellus and Utica shale basins in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio with customers in other parts of the United States and Canada.
Enbridge put part of TEAL into service on Oct. 9.
The 0.95-billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) TEAL was designed to provide additional supplies for Enbridge's $2.6 billion NEXUS gas pipeline from Ohio to Michigan.
One billion cubic feet of gas is enough to fuel about 5 million homes for a day.
The company put part of the 1.5-bcfd NEXUS into service on Oct. 13 and is currently seeking FERC permission to start more of the project.
Once it enters full service, the 255-mile NEXUS will carry gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale fields to U.S. Midwest and Gulf Coast and Ontario in Canada.
NEXUS is a partnership between Enbridge and Michigan energy company DTE Energy Inc.
When it started construction of NEXUS in late 2017, Enbridge estimated the TEAL and NEXUS projects would enter service in the third quarter of 2018.
Enbridge said it completed NEXUS on time and on budget in September when it asked FERC for permission to put part of the pipeline into service.
New pipelines built to remove gas from the Marcellus and Utica basins will enable shale drillers to boost output in the Appalachia region to a projected record high of around 29.8 bcfd in November from 26.1 bcfd during the same month a year ago.
That represents about 36 percent of the nation's total dry gas output of 81.1 bcfd expected on average in 2018. The Appalachia region produced just 1.6 bcfd, or 3 percent of the country's total production, in 2008.
Reporting by Scott DiSavino
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