Unconventional
resources have
created a flurry of
midstream activity,
as
Gordon Cope
explains.
T
hanks to the twin revolutions in hydraulic
fracturing and horizontal drilling, North America
has become an energy dynamo. When crude,
natural gas, NGLs and other sources are added
together, the US alone is the world’s largest producer of
hydrocarbons, at 27 million boed.
Although North America is criss-crossed by
several million miles of hydrocarbon pipelines, most
of the integrated network has been developed to
deliver product from conventional fields to market.
Unconventional resources, on the other hand, have
arisen in regions that had little prior production, such
as North Dakota and Pennsylvania. In addition, the huge
surge in natural gas liquids (NGLs) associated with shale
production has engendered the need for a new network
to deliver the light liquids to market.
New gas pipes
It all began with shale gas a decade ago. The Energy
Information Administration (EIA) recently noted
that gas production in the Lower 48 is now just shy
of 80 billion ft
3
/d, almost doubling production since
2007. The Texas Barnett shale and the Lafayette shale of
Louisiana have contributed, but it is now the Marcellus
and Utica shales of Pennsylvania and Ohio that are leading
the way. Output from the Marcellus, which stood at
2 billion ft
3
/d in 2010, has now surpassed 15 billion ft
3
/d.
According to the American Natural Gas Alliance
(ANGA), almost US$11 billion in new pipeline projects
came on stream in 2014 in the US Northeast, and the near-
future looks equally bright.
85
