Despite continuing efforts to bring a $6 billion ethane cracker to Belmont County, proposals by China Energy to build $83.7 billion worth of petrochemical projects in West Virginia and ongoing construction on the Royal Dutch Shell plant north of Pittsburgh, there is still no end-user for ethane in the Marcellus and Utica region.

“The project team, in coordination with local, state and federal agencies, has done a tremendous job developing a project that provides ethane takeaway capacity from the Utica Shale to the growing petrochemical industry, while also maintaining an open dialogue with the local communities to support their needs and consider alternatives,”Don Lindley, president of natural gas liquids for Kinder Morgan, said. “We are extremely pleased to have placed the Utopia Pipeline into service.”

The Utopia is the latest pipeline to send ethane — drawn from fracked shale wells across Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania — to other regions for processing. …

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