Natural gas improves our quality of life and provides great value to the nation by heating our homes, generating electricity and serving as an essential component of the manufacturing of everyday products, from plastics to fertilizer. Abundant, domestic natural gas helps generate new jobs, increase tax revenue and reduce the energy bills of Americans. Abundant, affordable, reliable and domestically produced, it drives down dependence on foreign energy, increases export opportunities and offers new energy solutions.

As natural gas production increases, so too does the need to construct new pipelines to transport that production to markets for end use. Through pipeline construction, the natural gas industry invests billions in local communities, counties and states, creates new tax revenues and jobs, and supports local businesses during construction, operation and maintenance activities.

Our engineers have extensive experience in pipeline engineering and construction. We bring the latest state-of-the-art knowledge and techniques to every project. Although pipelines are generally buried underground, they have associated above-ground facilities, such as valves, metering stations, interconnections, compressor stations and dehydration stations.

Nearly 100 percent of the natural gas that is being used every day by commercial and residential customers is produced from shale formations. The result of this abundant local supply, coupled with existing pipeline capacity, infrastructure and underground storage facilities, is lower utility bills for customers.

Pipelines 101

National Fuel’s natural gas pipeline and storage facilities in New York and Pennsylvania are used to transport and store natural gas for customers in all segments of the natural gas industry. Natural gas is delivered to customers through a safe underground pipeline system made up of high- and low-pressure pipelines. We make safety our top priority on each and every project to ensure secure and reliable energy delivery.

We own and safely operate nearly 2,800 miles of interstate natural gas pipelines and more than 190 compressor units at numerous stations in New York and Pennsylvania. Our pipeline systems serve as the vital link between natural gas supplies and natural gas consumers. They connect North America’s abundant natural gas reserves to downstream local utilities, other interstate pipelines, and power-generation facilities that fuel our homes, businesses and the economy.

Over the past several years, natural gas pipeline construction has become increasingly active due to the abundance of natural gas made available by the shale revolution. Construction of new pipelines is critical to transport this abundant gas supply to end users. During the pipeline construction process, crews work safely under the guidance of stringent federal and state regulators every step of the way until the project is complete. We inspect the pipeline and test it before it goes into service, in accordance with, and often exceeding, the highest federal safety codes and accepted engineering standards. After construction, the pipeline right-of-way is restored to its original condition or better and marked with signage to advise people that a pipeline is buried underground. We maintain and regularly inspect each pipeline after it is placed into service and throughout its lifetime to ensure safety and reliability.

Landowners have rights in the planning process prior to, during and after construction. Stakeholder input and potential environmental impacts each play a major role in the decision-making process when determining the proposed route of a new pipeline. While the right-of-way is maintained by the pipeline operating company after construction (clearing and mowing), the land is returned to the landowner for their use. In advance of maintenance or other pipeline activities, we provide notice and ongoing information to landowners.