WB XPress is one of several pipelines designed to connect growing output in the Marcellus and Utica shale basins in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio with customers in other parts of the US and Canada.
The 1.3 billion ft3/d WB XPress project was designed to increase gas capacity in Virginia and West Virginia. The project includes construction of 2.9 miles (4.7 km) of new pipeline, two compressor stations and replacement of 26 miles of existing pipeline.
New pipelines built to remove gas from the Marcellus and Utica basins have enabled shale drillers to boost output in the Appalachia region to a forecast record high of approximately 30.4 billion ft3/d in December from 26.9 billion ft3/d during the same month a year earlier. A decade ago, the Appalachia region produced just 1.6 billion ft3/d.
