Energy Transfer commissions 350mile long Mariner East 2 pipeline

Dallas-based pipeline transport company Energy Transfer has placed the 350mile long Mariner East 2 natural gas liquids (NGLs) pipeline (Mariner East 2 pipeline) into service.

The underground NGL pipeline, which is now available for both interstate and intrastate service, delivers domestically produced ethane, propane and butane east from processing plants in Ohio and West Virginia into Pennsylvania.

The NGLs transported through the Mariner East 2 pipeline are delivered to Energy Transfer’s Marcus Hook Industrial Complex in Delaware County, Pennsylvania where they are stored for distribution to local, domestic and waterborne markets.

Mariner East 2 Pipeline commissioned by Energy Transfer. Photo courtesy of outgunned21 at Freeimages.com.

The Mariner East 2 pipeline is the second phase of the Mariner East pipeline infrastructure project owned by Energy Transfer. Spanning across Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio and West Virginia, the Mariner East pipeline system is being built by the company’s subsidiary Sunoco Pipeline.

The pipeline infrastructure project is designed to deliver the required NGL takeaway capacity for the Marcellus and Utica Shale production areas in Eastern Ohio, West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania.

Mariner East comprises three pipelines – Mariner East 1, Mariner East 2 and Mariner East 2X.

The underground Mariner East 1 pipeline, which was completed in 2014, delivers liquid propane and ethane sourced from Western Pennsylvania to the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex and to Claymont, Delaware.

The Mariner East 2X pipeline, which will run parallel to the Mariner East 2 pipeline, is slated to begin operations in late 2019.

The Mariner East pipeline system is expected to give operational flexibility and improved security of NGL supply from producing areas to important markets in the region and beyond, said Energy Transfer.

The company stated: “According to a 2015 economic impact study by EConsult Solutions, the total impact from the construction of the Mariner East pipelines is estimated to be more than $9.1 billion in Pennsylvania alone. When complete, the projects will have provided more than 9,500 construction jobs per year for six years, with associated earnings totaling more than $2.7 billion.”