New US pipelines help drive natural gas boom

Washington

US energy firms are scrambling to finish a slew of pipelines that will unleash rich reserves of shale gas in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio as the nation prepares to become one of the world's top natural gas exporters.

The pipelines are expected to boost output from shale fields in the three states by giving producers access to new domestic and international markets.

Those states could supply about a third of all US natural gas once the pipeline expansion is complete, up from about 25 per cent now, according to projections from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The network will bring cheaper fuel supplies for power generation and industry being built in the eastern half of Canada and the United States, especially along the US Gulf Coast. It would also transport the …