Natural gas production is booming in the United States, and especially in Pennsylvania. In 2012 the Marcellus and Utica shale area produced 7.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), but in 2017 that number jumped to 23.7 Bcf/d, tripling the volume.
The increase has helped bring more jobs and create a thriving economy, but it’s lacking the proper infrastructure to ship the gas where it needs to go. Brian Bowling highlights this in his recent piece for Tribune-Review.
In his article he states that the pipelines proposed in Pennsylvania would bring gas to not only New England, Chicago, Buffalo, and Canada, but also Philadelphia-New Jersey. Currently that area is mostly supplied with natural gas from the Gulf Coast states.
Projects like Mariner East pipeline are vital to moving natural gas liquids across the country. We must continue to push these infrastructure developments forward as we inch closer towards domestic energy independence.