TransCanada working on Leach Xpress natgas pipe after W.Va. blast

TransCanada Corp's Columbia GasTransmission (TCO) unit said it was working on a section of theLeach Xpress natural gas pipeline downstream of a pipe blast inWest Virginia last week.

That work will enable the Stagecoach-Leach Xpress meter insoutheast Ohio to return to service, according to a notice tocustomers late Tuesday.

The Stagecoach meter in Monroe County on the Ohio-WestVirginia border connects to EQT Midstream Partners LP's Strike Force South gathering fields in Monroe and Belmontcounties in Ohio.

Strike Force can also deliver to Energy Transfer PartnersLP's Rover and Enbridge Inc's Texas EasternTransmission (Tetco) pipelines.

Columbia Gas said all other meters affected by the blastwill remain at zero until the pipeline returns to service.

The company said did not say when the full pipe would returnto service, noting the site of the incident is in therestoration process. Columbia Gas told customers it will providean update on the status of the pipe on June 18.

The shutdown of Leach Xpress forced producers using the lineto find other pipes to ship their gas out of the Marcellus andUtica shale regions of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.

Alternative pipelines include ETP's Rover, Tallgrass EnergyPartners LP's Rockies Express (REX), EQT MidstreamPartners LP's Equitrans and Enbridge's Tetco, according toanalysts at S&P Global Platts.

Columbia Gas, which declared a force majeure after theblast, said the damaged section of pipe could affect movement ofabout 1.3 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd). One billion cubicfeet of gas is enough to fuel about 5 million U.S. homes for aday.

Energy analysts said overall output in the Appalachianregion was little changed by the blast as producers, like RangeResources Corp and Southwestern Energy Co , foundother pipes.

Appalachian output rose from 27.5 bcfd on June 7, the day ofthe blast, to 27.7 bcfd over the weekend before easing to 27.3bcfd on Tuesday, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The 1.5-bcfd Leach Xpress in West Virginia and Ohio, whichentered full service at the start of this year, transportsMarcellus and Utica shale gas to consumers in the U.S. Midwestand Gulf Coast.

The 12,000-mile (19,312-km) Columbia pipeline system, whichTransCanada acquired in 2016, serves millions of customers fromNew York to the Gulf of Mexico.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)