Recent Pipeline Completions Focused on LNG Projects; Upcoming Projects in Permian, Mid-Atlantic

With several LNG projects coming online recently or soon to come online, it's not surprising that some of the recent key pipeline completions are serving those facilities.

Then, looking out to the end of 2019 in the PointLogic pipeline data base, project in services are focused on Permian takeaway capacity, Marcellus takeaway and Mid-Atlantic end-users.

LNG-related pipelines

Both Cameron LNG (Train 1) in Louisiana and Freeport LNG (Train 1) in Texas began commercial operations in August, and Cheniere got the go-ahead for Corpus Christi Train 2 on August 28. Elba LNG in Georgia isn't far behind, as it has applied for in service with FERC for the first six of its smaller-capacity trains.

Those facilities combined will add about 2.044 Bcf/d of gas demand if they run at full utilization, and they have spurred new pipeline development.

For example, the Elba Liquefaction Pipeline Project came into service on August 16, capable of delivering up to 350 MMcf/d to the liquefaction operation.

The Texas Intrastate SK Freeport LNG pipeline, a Kinder Morgan project, is tied to serving Freeport LNG, and its in service is imminent, according to Kinder Morgan. The intrastate pipeline can deliver up to 440 MMcf/d of gas from Kinder Morgan's Tejas Pipeline, of which 320 MMcf/d is spoken for under a 20-year contract by SK Freeport.

Corpus Christi LNG, meanwhile, has signed up for 75 MMcf/d of volume from the Cheniere Midstream Midship Pipeline project, which is due online in December. This 1.44 Bcf/d project will move Anadarko, STACK and SCOOP gas from Oklahoma plays to transmission lines that can reach the Gulf Coast from the Bennington, Oklahoma hub.

Permian Takeaway

One big theme for the fall is increasing Permian takeaway, and Kinder Morgan has a hand in each of the takeaway projects expected to be online by the end of the year.

Gulf Coast Express is the biggest fish in the pond. The 2 Bcf/d Kinder Morgan project is expected to be online by October 1, connecting the Waha area to Agua Dulce, Texas. A 50-mile, 36-inch, lateral will connect the main pipeline to gas processing plants in the Permian's Midland Basin, further building on the Midland Lateral that went into service last year.

Supporting Gulf Coast Express is an intrastate Kinder Morgan project, Cogent Midstream, which will move residue gas from an expanded Big Lake Natural Gas Processing Complex to Gulf Coast Express. The 400 MMcf/d project is expected to be in service by December 1, enabling takeaway from the processing complex, which will soon have a capacity of 510 MMcf/d.

Another Kinder Morgan project, being built by its El Paso Natural Gas company, also will come into service on or about October 1: the Northern Delaware Basin Expansion. The major part of this 320 MMcf/d project is a 24-inch, 14-mile loop on an existing EPNG line in Winkler County, Texas. Two shippers signed up for all its takeaway capacity.

Other projects

One other Texas project is coming into service by the end of the year, Phase III of the Roadrunner Gas Transmission project by ONEOK. This final phase will add 70 MMcf/d more capacity to the pipeline, enabling it to move 640 MMcf/d to the Mexico border. With the announcement on August 27 that Mexico's president and pipelines in Mexico that are moving gas from border crossings to demand centers have resolved their differences, it's likely that Roadrunner and other border-crossing pipelines will be able to ramp up their deliveries.

Another project, the Westlake Expansion, is designed to serve a power plant in Louisiana. This 200,000 Dth/d project is in partial service, and full service is expected in September, as a compressor was approved on August 12.

Looking to the East and Mid-Atlantic, many projects are coming online, led by two large projects by EQT:

• EQT Expansion Project. Now in partial service and with full in service expected in September, this is a 600 MMcf/d project to increase gas deliveries to LDCs and industrial users in in the Mid-Atlantic by adding more Pennsylvania gas from EQT's gathering network to TETCO and Dominion Transmission.
• Hammerhead Pipeline Project also is being developed by EQT. It can handle up to 1.6 Bcf/d of Pennsylvania gas production, providing a major new outlet to the South and Gulf. Currently, 1.2 Bcf/d has been contracted for Hammerhead, which is now expected to reach in service by the end of the year.
• The Cove Point Eastern Market Access Project is set to come in service on August 30, according to Dominion Energy, the prime developer. It will deliver an additional 147 MMcf/d of gas to two LDCs in Maryland.
• Riverdale to South is another LDC-oriented project, in this case for customers Direct Energy Business Marketing and UGI Energy Services, both in New Jersey. The in service on this Transco (Williams) 190 MMcf/d project has been moved up to September 2, well in advance of winter's high-demand season.
• Eastern Shore 2017 Expansion. Now at partial in-service and aiming for September 30, the project will add 61 MMcf/d of delivery capacity to serve Delaware customers.
• Line N to Monaca. This project is a lateral from a National Fuel Gas that will serve the new Shell ethane petrochemicals complex in Potter Township. All of the 133 MMcf/d is contracted by Shell for this project, which could start as early as late September, though FERC granted the company an extension until October 11 to reach in service.
• The Risberg Project by RH Energytrans also has a key industrial user, in this case a pig iron furnace in Ashtabula, Ohio that will take 15 MMcf/d. The other 40 MMcf/d of the project has been contracted by Dominion East Ohio for res/com users. The gas will be coming from Tennessee Gas Pipeline in Pennsylvania.

New England continues to struggle with having sufficient gas supply, but a couple of linked TC Energy (subsidiary Portland Natural Gas Transmission) projects will ease the burden slightly this winter, as they are on target for November 1 in service dates:

• Westbrook XPress. This project will add 45 MMcf/d of gas delivery into Maine from an interconnect in New Hampshire.
• Portland XPress Phase II. This project is part of a three-phase project to deliver about 90 MMcf/d of gas across New Hampshire, Maine and down to Massachusetts.

Other projects coming online in the fourth quarter of 2019 help solve localized needs, including: the North Seattle Lateral in Washington State; High Plains Kiowa Lateral in in Colorado; Demicks Lake in North Dakota; and Northern Lights 2019 Expansion in Iowa and Minnesota.

Reprinted from PointLogic News. For more natural gas news from IHS Markit, visit the PointLogic website.

Kevin Adler is an Editorial Director, Natural Gas at IHS Markit.

Posted 25 September 2019

This article was published by S&P Global Commodity Insights and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.