Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPP), Houston, has commissioned a cryogenic natural gas processing plant in Eddy County, NM, along with associated gas and NGL pipelines to handle growing production of NGL-rich natural gas in the Delaware basin (OGJ Online, Sept. 30, 2014).
Equipped with a nameplate capacity to process 200 MMcfd of natural gas as well as the capability to extract as much as 25,000 b/d of NGLs, the South Eddy plant entered commercial operation in early May, EPP said.
The South Eddy plant, which is supported by long-term, fee-based agreements, is now processing gas volumes that prior to the plants startup were flared, shut-in, or blended into a residue pipeline with no NGL upgrade, the company said.
Alongside construction of the South Eddy plant, EPP also built about 90 miles of linking high-pressure gathering lines as well as a 71-mile extension of its Mid-America Pipeline system that provides Delaware basin producers connectivity to the operator’s integrated midstream network, including access to the NGL fractionation and storage hub at Mont Belvieu, Tex.
“The South Eddy Plant is a key component of our overall strategy to double Enterprise’s natural gas processing capacity in the Delaware Basin during 2016,” said A.J. Teague, chief executive officer of EPP’s general partner.
Because production in the Delaware basin continues to grow despite the decrease in rig count nationwide, EPP remains on track with its previously planned expansion of midstream services in the region, including startup during this year’s third quarter of a second cryogenic processing plant at Waha under joint development with an affiliate of Occidental Petroleum Corp., Teague added.
The 150-MMcfd cryogenic gas processing plant, which will be owned by the EPP-Oxy joint venture Delaware Basin Gas Processing LLC, also is supported by long-term, firm delivery contracts (OGJ Online, Apr. 30, 2015).
In addition to operating the Waha plant, EPP will build, own, and operate a 12-in. OD pipeline that will move NGLs from the new plant to one of EPP’s NGL pipelines with access to its NGL fractionation and storage in Mont Belvieu.
The Waha plant additionally will be equipped with an NGL-extraction capability of 20,000 b/d, EPP said in a May presentation to investors.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
