New Dominion Plant in West Virginia to Provide Natural Gas Processing and Separation

The first phase of construction on a Dominion natural gas processing and fractionation plant near the Ohio River in Natrium, West Virginia, is already 90 percent contracted, the company announced on August 4. The facility, which should in service by the end of 2012, will serve producers in the Marcellus and Utica Shale regions.

In addition to bringing new development to the area, the site is expected to employ 40 to 50 people when fully completed. It will encourage local natural gas production by enabling producers to get their products, both liquid and dry gas, processed and separated for marketing.

Together, the Marcellus and Utica Shale regions extend across New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, and portions of Kentucky and Tennessee. According to the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), both are important geologic formations because they hold large reserves of natural gas. The deposits sit between 7,000 and 12,000 feet below ground. Researchers estimate the Marcellus Shale alone could contain as much as 363 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to satisfy U.S. energy demands for about 14 years.

Drilling activity in the region has switched from the dry gas to the wet gas areas, as producers look to capture the economic value of natural gas liquids.

Dominion has exercised its option with PPG Industries to purchase land and locate the new plant adjacent to PPG's Natrium facility in Marshall County, about nine miles north of New Martinsville, West Virginia.  It will connect to Dominion Transmission's TL-404 pipeline, an existing pipeline in Ohio and West Virginia that was recently converted to handle wet gas.  

“Natrium will be a world class facility,” said Paul Ruppert, senior vice president of Dominion Transmission. “It is being constructed to the latest industry standards to be an extremely reliable plant, which should be appealing to producers looking to capture the greatest value. Dominion has 100 years of experience in operating processing plants, has a proven track record, and understands this business.”

The first phase of construction planned by Dominion includes facilities that can process 200 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and fractionate 36,000 barrels of natural gas liquids per day.    

“We are working to secure additional producer commitments for a second phase of the project,” said Thomas F. Farrell II, chairman, president and CEO of Dominion. “Once those contracts are finalized, efforts to expand the Natrium facility to process a total of 400 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and fractionate 59,000 barrels of natural gas liquids per day will be under way.”

“The Natrium site is an ideal location,” said Gary Sypolt, CEO of Dominion Energy, one of the company’s three operating divisions.  ”We will have the capability to access production in both the Marcellus and Utica Shale regions, and ship products via barge, rail, truck, and pipe; thus, offering significant value to producers.”

The largest customer is Chesapeake Energy Marketing, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy Corporation, which has contracted for 100 million cubic feet per day and has an option for capacity on the second phase. Dominion has retained Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. (CB&I) of The Netherlands to be the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the first phase.

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