U.S. WV-VA Mountain Valley natgas pipe seeks 4 more years to complete

RGC Resources

27/06/2022 14:46

June 27 (Reuters) - The joint venture building the Mountain
Valley natural gas pipeline from West Virginia to Virginia asked
federal regulators for four more years until October 2026 to
complete the long-delayed project.
    Mountain Valley - the only big gas pipe under construction
in Appalachia - is one of several U.S. pipeline projects delayed
by regulatory and legal fights with environmental and local
groups that found problems with federal permits issued during
President Donald Trump's administration.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2QU1HKi
    Specifically, Mountain Valley asked the U.S. Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Friday for the extension due to
ongoing litigation and court remand proceedings related to
several permits and authorizations.
    In May, Equitrans Midstream Corp  ETRN.N , the lead partner
building the project, said it expected the pipe to enter service
in the second half of 2023 at a cost of around $6.6 billion.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nBw1wRvHSa
    Officials at Equitrans were not immediately available for
comment.
    When Mountain Valley construction started in February 2018,
Equitrans estimated the 303-mile (488-km),
2-billion-cubic-feet-per-day (bcfd) project would cost about
$3.5 billion and enter service by late 2018.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2RS10S
    Earlier this year, Equitrans said total work on the pipeline
was "nearly 94% complete."  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2U528H
    Last week, analysts at ClearView Partners said they expect
federal agencies to finish their reviews by the end of 2022 with
construction completion in early 2023.
    Several federal agencies need to reissue permits, including
FERC, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Biological Opinion),
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of
Land Management (Right-of-Way across Jefferson National Forest).
    Many of those permits were vacated by the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Fourth Circuit - some more than once.
    Equitrans has a 47.8% ownership interest in Mountain Valley
and will operate the pipeline.
    Mountain Valley is owned by units of Equitrans, NextEra
Energy Inc  NEE.N , Consolidated Edison Inc  ED.N , AltaGas Ltd
 ALA.TO  and RGC Resources  RGCO.O .

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RGC sees Mountain Valley gas pipeline completion by end 2021
-CEO     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2KI1OJ
MVP Southgate natgas pipe startup seen in 2021 despite
N.Carolina permit denial     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2FE1FI
UPDATE 1-Panel favors Equitrans in EQT PA-WV Hammerhead natgas
pipe dispute     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2RM25G
FACTBOX-U.S. new natural gas pipeline projects     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2RS10S
EXPLAINER-U.S. Appalachian gas pipeline projects go by the
wayside     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2QU1HK
UPDATE 2-Mountain Valley natgas pipeline start delayed to summer
2022     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2MR17P
Equitrans sees Mountain Valley natgas pipeline entering service
next summer     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2RT0U4
UPDATE 1-U.S. court vacates federal permit for WV-VA Mountain
Valley natgas pipe     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2U528H
Equitrans Midstream Announces First Quarter 2022 Results    
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nBw1wRvHSa
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 (Reporting by Scott DiSavino
Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
 ((scott.disavino@thomsonreuters.com; +1 332 219 1922; Reuters
Messaging: scott.disavino.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))