RICHMOND, Va., April 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Dominion (NYSE: D) today announced a project designed to gather, process and transport the growing volumes of high-Btu (wet) Marcellus natural gas production in Marshall and Wetzel counties, West Virginia, and surrounding counties in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Dominion Transmission's Marcellus 404 Project is designed to provide firm and interruptible transportation, as well as gathering and processing services, for up to 300,000 Mcf (thousand cubic feet) per day of natural gas. Fractionation capacity for 32,000 barrels per day of natural gas liquids will be available.  

Dominion plans to locate new processing and fractionation facilities in north-central West Virginia.  Once processed, the natural gas can be delivered into Dominion Transmission's system, or into one of several other natural gas outlets in the vicinity of Clarington, Ohio.

As part of the project, Dominion will request authorization to convert an existing transmission line in Ohio and West Virginia, TL-404, into a wet gas service line. Producers may connect directly to TL-404 or request that Dominion construct additional gathering facilities to allow delivery of their production to TL-404.

The project will be phased in, providing 45,000 Mcf per day of service initially and ultimately expanded to 300,000 Mcf per day. Initial service will be available approximately one year after receipt of adequate support for the project.  Processing and fractionation will be phased in to correspond with producer needs.

The rates for transportation, gathering, processing and fractionation will be determined based on the facilities required to support the requested service. Natural gas liquids fractionated at the new plant will be sold by Dominion, with the net proceeds returned to the producers delivering wet gas to Dominion, or to those providing liquids for fractionation.

To confirm interest in the project, Dominion will meet with interested parties to discuss the types of service, location, quantity, contract terms and dates by which service is desired.  Once market commitment sufficient to support the project investment is obtained, Dominion will begin finalizing the project design and negotiating agreements.

For additional information on Dominion's Marcellus 404 Project, contact Jeff Keister at (804) 771-4459 or Ron Ridgway at (304) 627-3207.

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with 12,000 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipeline.  Dominion operates the nation's largest natural gas storage system with 942 billion cubic feet of storage capacity.  For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at www.dom.com. 

SOURCE Dominion