TransCanada has fully commissioned its $900m WB Xpress pipeline project in the US by placing the eastern build of the natural gas pipeline in to service.
Image: TransCanada's WB Xpress pipeline project enters into full operations. Photo: courtesy of TransCanada.
Last month, the company commissioned the western segment of the WB Xpress pipeline project, which passes through the states of Virginia and West Virginia.
According to TransCanada, WB Xpress is a critical natural gas infrastructure project that gives producers in the Appalachian Basin access to Mid-Atlantic markets.
The pipeline’s eastern build is spread across multiple counties across West Virginia and Virginia and is designed to transport nearly 0.5 billion cubic feet (Bcf/d) of natural gas per day.
The eastern phase of the WB Xpress pipeline also saw construction of the Chantilly Compressor station in Chantilly, Virginia, in addition to associated pipeline and facilities.
On the other hand, the western build of the pipeline project will transport around 760 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to a delivery point on Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s Broad Run System for further transportation to the Gulf Coast.
TransCanada U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines executive vice president & president Stanley Chapman III said: “The completion of WB XPress marks another significant milestone for TransCanada as we continue to deliver on our commitment of creating high-value takeaway capacity for our customers.
“WBX is a significant piece of a transformational expansion period for our U.S. gas business, one in which we are placing more than US$7 billion of capital investments into service.”
Essentially, the WB Xpress pipeline project involved upgrading and enhancing an existing TransCanada pipeline system that has been operating for over six decades.
The natural gas pipeline project saw addition of two new compressor stations, 48km of greenfield pipeline along with modifications to seven existing pipelines to enable an additional transportation of 1.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day through the pipeline system.
The WB Xpress pipeline project is part of the near-term growth portfolio of TransCanada with an investment of C$28bn ($21.6bn), out of which $8bn will be used on natural gas pipelines in the US.
Earlier this month, the company suffered a setback when its $8bn Keystone XL pipeline project was blocked by the ruling of a federal judge in the US state of Montana citing environmental concerns.