Liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplier Edge Gathering Virtual Pipelines 2 LLC (EDGE) has produced and delivered its first LNG in the US
EDGE began on-well-site LNG production in the US on May 2019, accessing Marcellus gas in Pennsylvania, and making truck-delivered LNG sales to its first customers, which include Emera Energy Services, Inc.
To date, the company has delivered more than 30,000 gallons of LNG to a delivery point at a New England gas utility over 300 miles away from the Marcellus production site.
EDGE claims it provides the first viable route to market for stranded gas reserves without pipelines and a revenue-generating alternative to flaring or venting associated gas from oil production.
CEO Mark Casaday said, “It is estimated that stranded wells account for up to 60 per cent of global reserves, and up to 20 per cent of those drilled in Marcellus, showing the scale of this untapped resource.
“The virtual pipeline model has already been deployed in Mendoza, Argentina, where the first LNG-fuelled power plant running entirely on previously stranded gas, is now well established. Now we’re bringing this innovation to the US and the rest of the world. With EDGE, well-owners can monetise these assets for the first time, and the market benefits from the lowest cost and highest quality LNG available.”
Mark Dickinson, managing director, Blue Water Energy, added, “EDGE is a truly rare thing: a company solving a global issue that has the industry wringing its hands, with a solution at once both truly innovative and brilliantly simple. LNG is a fuel of the future and EDGE can take it anywhere.”
The EDGE Virtual Pipeline works by deploying Galileo Global Technologies’ transportable Cryobox LNG production and liquefaction equipment at the source – natural gas wells – and delivering the LNG directly to customers’ doorsteps.
EDGE Cryobox units fit on a standard 40 ft tractor trailer and are designed to be quickly and easily connected, and disconnected, from feedstock gas wells. Units are also self-powered using produced gas, removing the need for a grid connection.
For owners of stranded gas wells, or oil producers forced to flare or vent associated gas, EDGE is a revolutionary way to monetise otherwise uneconomic assets. For LNG buyers, EDGE offers a new source of high-quality, low-cost LNG that can be delivered anywhere. By sourcing otherwise ‘wasted’ gas and avoiding pipeline costs, EDGE will be among the most competitive suppliers of truck-delivered LNG worldwide.
EDGE uses technology developed and proven in Argentina and is suitable for use anywhere in the world were stranded, flared or vented gas is an issue.