Energy Mechanics · NG · Interstate pipeline trunks

The physical network
behind every bcf

PIPELINES · CAPACITY · DIRECTION
RELEASE · FERC · EIA
VINTAGE · QUALITATIVE
RATINGS · BCF/D
STATUS · REFERENCE
Storage, weather, and production tell you how much gas is moving. The pipeline network tells you where it can go — and where it can't. Six trunk corridors carry the bulk of U.S. interstate gas. The recurring story is takeaway constraints: the Marcellus has been producing more gas than its pipelines can move to Northeast demand centers for a decade; the Permian periodically blows out Waha-hub pricing when associated gas overwhelms southbound capacity.
Pipeline capacity tall bar = more bcf/d throughput · color marks gas role
PIPELINE · BCF/D CAPACITY ROUTE & ROLE Transco (Williams) ~17.6 GULF COAST → NORTHEAST Largest by throughput. Spans 14 states, serves NYC + NE markets. Texas Eastern (TETCO · Enbridge) ~9.2 GULF COAST → MID-ATLANTIC + OHIO RIVER Originally south-to-north; reversal segments now move Marcellus south too. Tennessee Gas Pipeline (Kinder Morgan) ~8.3 GULF + APPALACHIA → NORTHEAST Reversed multiple segments to carry Marcellus south + east. Boston/New England. Rockies Express (REX) ~6.5 ROCKIES ↔ MIDWEST (BI-DIRECTIONAL) Built to move Rockies gas east. Now also runs west-bound from Marcellus on demand. Northern Border ~2.4 CANADIAN BORDER (ND) → CHICAGO Canadian gas import lane. Diminished post-Marcellus; still serves IL/IA/WI. Permian Outbound (PHP + Whistler + Matterhorn etc.) ~7.5 WAHA HUB → GULF COAST DEMAND + LNG New-build wave clearing the Permian associated-gas glut. Drives basis. STRUCTURAL CONSTRAINTS Northeast pipeline takeaway has been a permanent bottleneck — Marcellus produces more gas than the corridor can move on the coldest winter days.
Major trunk capacity
~51 bcf/d
six pipelines combined nameplate
Marcellus takeaway
CONSTRAINED
net-export-ready PA/OH/WV gas
Permian outbound
EXPANDING
PHP, Whistler, Matterhorn online
Pipeline direction shift
REVERSED
TETCO + TGP segments now Marcellus-south
SOURCE · FERC pipeline filings, operator capacity disclosures (Williams, Kinder Morgan, Enbridge, Tallgrass), and EIA's State-to-State Capacity reference. Capacity figures are nameplate / certificated; actual throughput varies with season and contracts. This page is a qualitative reference rather than a live data feed — pipeline capacities change on the order of years, not weeks, and the more interesting question is usually whether a specific corridor is binding right now (which shows up in regional basis prices, not in a capacity table).
SECOND·ORDER·EDGE