The board of directors for Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) approved the construction of a natural gas pipeline, called the ET Rover Pipeline, to transport gas from processing facilities in the Marcellus and Utica shales to markets in the U.S. and Canada. ETP also announced that it signed long-term agreements with several shippers and is holding a binding open season.

Currently, the planned pipeline is sized to have a transport capacity of 2.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). Depending on additional shipper commitments, however, the transport capacity will likely be expanded to 3.25 Bcf/d.

The first 400 miles of the pipeline will connect gas from processing plants and interconnections in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio to interconnection points with ETP’s existing Panhandle Eastern Pipeline (PEPL) and another Midwest pipeline near Defiance, Ohio. Shippers will also be able to transport to Trunkline Zone 1A delivery points via the PEPL interconnection to access industrial and export markets in the Gulf Coast.

ETP also plans to build a 195-mile segment from the Defiance area through Michigan to the Union Gas Dawn Hub near Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. ETP has received sufficient commitments to build the pipeline to Defiance, and expects to receive sufficient commitment volumes to justify building to Sarnia.

ETP’s largest dedicated shippers on the project are American Energy—Utica LLC, Antero Resources Corp. and Range Resources Corp. American Energy and Antero have options to purchase non-operating equity interests in the project. The binding open season for additional shippers to secure capacity on the ET Rover Pipeline will begin on June 27. Depending on the results of the open season, ETP plans to begin service to the Defiance hub and Gulf Coast markets by fourth-quarter 2016, and the remaining markets in Michigan and Canada by second-quarter 2017.