)
)
DTE Energy, Enbridge and Spectra are building the NEXUS
projects that would move up to 1 billion ft
3
/d of Utica
shale gas to the US Midwest. The 400 km new-build would
connect to the existing Vector pipeline system.
)
)
Dominion Resources and Duke Energy are promoting the
Atlantic Coast Pipeline that would run from West Virginia
to South Carolina. The 550 mile pipeline would cost up to
US$5 billion, and move 1.5 billion ft
3
/d.
)
)
EQT and NextEra US Gas have formed a JV to build a
330 mile Mountain Valley line. The system will move
2 billion ft
3
/d of Marcellus and Utica gas from West
Virginia to mid-and-south eastern Seaboard markets. It is
expected to enter service by late 2018.
The US is also building and expanding pipelines in order
to export large amounts of gas to Mexico and Canada.
Tennessee Gas Pipeline is the latest company to announce
plans for South System, a US$187 million project that will
start delivering gas to the border in 2015. US producers
already export several billion ft
3
/d south of the border, with
much more on the way. Recently, Mexico’s Federal Electricity
Commission estimated that new and existing lines will have
the capacity to deliver almost 6 billion ft
3
/d within a few
years. The Tennessee Gas Pipeline system, once an export
point for Canadian gas, has been reversed and now supplies
almost 500 million ft
3
/d to Ontario and Quebec.
While significant portions of Canada’s gas export network
has been idled by the growth in US production, new shale
gas sources in northeast British Columbia (BC) and northwest
Alberta have spurred plans for major new lines. The BC
government granted environmental certificates to the
Westcoast Connector Gas Transmission pipeline and the Prince
Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline, both designed to deliver
gas from the interior of BC to proposed coastal LNG facilities.
Spectra’s Westcoast Connector consists of two, 860 km
pipelines costing CAN$7.5 billion. TransCanada’s Prince Rupert
line will run 900 km, and cost an estimated US$5 billion.
New oil pipes
Over the last decade, much of the growth of oil pipelines
in North America has been driven by increases in oilsands
production. But, as gas prices have tanked, unconventional
drillers have focused their attention on the portions of
shale basins where pressure and temperature conditions are
favourable to the formation of natural gas liquids (NGLs) and
oil. According to the EIA, over the last two years, the growth
in US production has been the highest in the last century;
crude output had risen to over 9 million bpd by late 2014, and
could reach 9.4 million bpd by this year.
The majority of that growth has been due to the drilling
of oil shales in the Bakken, Eagle Ford and Texas Permian
basin. North Dakota alone is on target to contribute over
1 million bpd in new production with at least 50% more
expected in the next three years. Energy Transfer and Phillips
66 intend to build the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and
Energy Transfer Crude Oil Pipeline (ETCOP). DAPL will have a
capacity to move over 450 000 bpd from North Dakota to the
Midwest. ETCOP will then move the crude from the Midwest
to Texas. Enterprise Products is holding an open season on
a 1900 km line that would move up to 340 000 bpd from
North Dakota to Cushing, Oklahoma. The line, which could be
expanded up to 700 000 bpd, is tentatively scheduled to enter
service by late 2017.
In Texas, Plains All American Pipeline is constructing the
Cactus Pipeline, a 512 km, 20 in. OD line that will run from
the Permian basin in Texas to refineries in Corpus Christi. The
220 000 bpd line is expected to be onstream by early 2015.
NGL lines
NGLs are emerging as a significant portion of North
American output and a major contributor to pipeline growth.
Composed of ethane, butane and propane, NGLs are currently
being stripped from shale gas at a rate of approximately
2.5 million bpd, primarily to be used as feedstock for the
petrochemical industry.
Pipeliners are building and planning major networks
to deliver NGLs to market. Enterprise Products Partners is
expanding its Aegis pipeline system in Texas and Louisiana
to gather and deliver up to 425 000 bpd of pure ethane to
customers along its 432 km length. EnLink Midstream (a new
company formed by Devon and Crosstex Energy) recently
completed Phase 2 of its Cajun-Sibon NGL expansion,
boosting capacity from 50 000 - 120 000 bpd.
In Early 2014, ONEOK Partners brought three gas and NGL
projects onstream, including a 540 mile, 16 in. sterling pipeline
that can shop almost 200 000 bpd from the Cana-Woodford
shale to Mont Belvieu, Texas, storage site (the line can be
expanded to 250 000 bpd, if needed). ONEOK Partners also
purchased Chevron’s West Texas LPG Pipeline and Mesquite
Pipeline networks, which gather and process NGLs in New
Mexico and Texas and deliver them to Mont Belvieu, Texas.
The US$800 million acquisition includes 2600 mile of pipeline,
increasing ONEOK’s NGL network to 6900 mile of pipe
capable of gathering 800 000 bpd system-wide.
In Canada, Pembina will spend CAN$210 million in
northeast British Columbia to bolster the Blueberry pipeline
system that carries condensate and NGLs from the Montney
resource play. The expansion is expected to be onstream
by late 2017, and add 75 000 bpd capacity. In all, Pembina
will have a total of 885 000 bpd capacity delivering crude,
condensates and NGLs from the new Montney, Duvernay and
Deep Basin plays in northeast BC and northwest Alberta to
tank farms in the Edmonton region. Pembina is also expanding
its recently-acquired Vantage pipeline system. The system
consists of 700 km of line that links ethane production in
North Dakota to petrochemical manufacturers in Alberta. The
CAN$85 million expansion will add a new, 80 km, 8 in. line and
boost capacity from 40 000 bpd to almost 70 000 bpd.
Problems
Over the last decade, several pipeline projects have come
under intense scrutiny from environmental groups. There
are growing concerns that the increase in the concentration
of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere due to the
burning of hydrocarbons is contributing to the warming of
86
World Pipelines
/
JULY 2015
