Empire Connector

From Wikimarcellus

The Empire Connector is a natural gas pipeline owned and operated by Empire Pipeline Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Fuel Gas Co..

Forming the vertical leg of a letter "T", it connects the Empire State Pipeline that goes from a point of interconnection with the TransCanada Pipeline near Buffalo, New York east to Syracuse, NY thus forming the top bar of the "T", to the Millennium Pipeline project to the south making its connection to the Millennium Pipeline at Corning, NY:

E  M  P  I  R  E     S  T  A  T  E     P  I  P  E  L  I  N  E
|------------------------- 157 miles -----------------------|
Buffalo (west)---------Rochester--------------Syracuse (east)
 -TransCanada Pipeline-     |                    ( * )
     ( * )                  |
                            | EMPIRE CONNECTOR (76 mi.)
                            | (south)
                            |       
                          ( * )
                     Quackenbush Hill
             Compressor Station at Corning, NY
          (interconnection with Millennium Pipeline)
                            |
                        (Caton, NY)
                            |
                         
                   Pipeline | Extension (Complete Fall, 2011)
                          
                            |
                          ( * )
            Northwest corner Tioga County, PA
                         (south)

The Empire Connector is a 24” high-pressure pipeline that went into service around the end of 2008. It crosses the 76 miles south from Rochester, NY to Corning, NY where the natural gas empties into the Millennium pipeline. Gas heads east through the Millennium pipeline and reaches as far as the metro areas of New York City and Boston. The Empire Connector has a rated capacity in excess of 750 MMcf/day.

Tioga County Extension

A press release appeared in October, 2009 stating that Empire Pipeline planned to build a 16 mile extension of the Empire Connector to the northwest corner of Tioga County, Pennsylvania. The extension was to be a 24-inch diameter pipeline and transport natural gas from the Marcellus shale and Trenton-Black River formations abundant in that region. At the time, Empire Pipeline was still in the planning phases--completing engineering and environmental studies--as well as obtaining necessary federal approvals. Construction was to begin in the spring of 2011 with completion slated for the fall of that year. It was to have a capacity of 300,000 Dk/d.

Another part of the project included establishing an interconnection with TGP’s Line 200 in Ontario County, New York.

In April, 2010 National Fuel and Empire announced that East Resources, Inc. was to become anchor tenant on the extension pipeline and that a second shipper for it was still being sought. East had a commitment for 200,000 Dk/d out of the 300,000 Dk/d available.

The line was to be laid through rural areas of Caton and Corning--a half mile arc dug beneath the Chemung River, I-86 and Route 352 in E. Corning. It joins the Millennium Pipeline at a station on College Avenue in Corning. Construction was to begin in March 2011 and finish up in September of 2011.

The extension project was to cost $45 million and be in operation on September 1, 2011.

• Donna DeCarolis is an Empire Pipeline spokeswoman.