Pipelines would transport shale gas to Gulf Coast

Williams Cos. and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP plan to form a joint venture to develop a pipeline project to transport natural gas liquids from the Marcellus and Utica shales in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania to Louisiana's Gulf Coast.

Plans call for pipelines that would transport the liquids from producing areas in West Virginia and Ohio to a transmission system in Hardinsburg, Ky., where they then would connect to another transport system to Eunice. The proposal also calls for a processing plant to be built in Louisiana.

The proposed project would give producers 200,000 barrels a day of mixed natural gas liquids capacity in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. That could be increased to 400,000 barrels a day to meet market demand, mostly by adding additional pumping capacity.

Company officials today said they also are looking into the possible development of a liquefied petroleum gas terminal and related facilities on the Gulf Coast to provide customers access to international markets.

Williams Cos. and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners expect the pipelines would start operating the second half of 2015, assuming all necessary conditions are met.

Williams Cos. is an energy infrastructure company that owns interests in or runs 15,000 miles of interstate gas pipelines, 1,000 miles of natural gas liquids transportation pipelines and more than 10,000 miles of oil- and natural gas-gathering pipelines. The Tulsa, Okla., company's stock gained 39 cents, to $33.76 a share, in trading this morning.

Boardwalk Pipeline Partners provides transportation, storage, gathering and processing of natural gas and liquids. The Houston company's shares added 3 cents, to $26.66 a share, this morning.