On February 3, 2022, EQT Corporation, Equinor, GE Gas Power, Marathon Petroleum (including its affiliate MPLX), Mitsubishi Power, Shell Polymers (a petrochemicals division of Royal Dutch Shell), and U.S. Steel announced that they have formed a new alliance to develop a hydrogen and carbon capture hub in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.[1] Historically, the northern Appalachian region has been the center of oil and natural gas production. Both EQT and Equinor have existing natural gas operations in Pennsylvania, and Marathon Power operates an oil refinery in Ohio.

The alliance plans to build out infrastructure for blue hydrogen, which pairs hydrogen produced from natural gas with carbon carputer, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies. According to the press release, the hub and associated infrastructure could generate thousands of new jobs, protect existing jobs, and help achieve significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. The group is working to establish a collaborative network to directly engage industry, labor, universities, communities, government, research institutions, non-profit organizations, and other groups in these efforts. The alliance participants intend to define the vision and plans for a regional CCUS/hydrogen hub in the coming weeks. IN-2-Market, a regional non-profit organization, will manage alliance activities and engagement with regional stakeholders.

[1] https://www.equinor.com/en/where-we-are/united-states/20220203-initiative-support-low-carbon-hydrogen-hub.html