DCP Midstream adding processing in DJ, Eagle Ford basins
DCP Midstream LLC will add nearly 500 MMcfd of natural gas processing capacity in two liquids-rich US basins, the company reported.
In the Denver-Julesburg basin, DCP will build a 200-MMcfd Lucerne 2 plant, northeast of Greeley, Colo., in Weld County (OGJ Online, Aug. 20, 2012) and will increase capacity at the nearby and recently started O’Connor plant to 160 MMcfd from 110 MMcfd. Both plants are connecting to the Front Range NGL Pipeline, now in service. And in the Eagle Ford shale, DCP has started up the 200-MMcfd Goliad plant (OGJ Online, Dec. 11, 2012).
DCP Midstream and its sponsored master limited partnership, DCP Midstream Partners LP (DPM) hold processing capacity accounting for 12% of US gas supply.
As the DJ basin’s largest midstream operator, DCP will have doubled its processing capacity to 800 MMcfd once the Lucerne 2 plant is operating. The plant is DCP’s ninth and largest processing plant in the basin, the company said, and expected to start up in second-quarter 2015.
The Lucerne 2 plant follows the DPM-owned O’Connor plant, which went into service 4 months ago and has been running full since start-up, said DCP.
Both plants are connecting to the Front Range NGL pipeline to Mont Belvieu, Tex. DPM holds a one-third ownership interest in the pipeline.
In the Eagle Ford shale, DCP’s joint venture holds assets in the liquids-rich areas. The JV is owned 80% by DPM and 20% by DCP Midstream. The DCP enterprise has processing capacity of 1.2 bcfd in the Eagle Ford and is the basin’s second-largest operator.
The Goliad plant is the DCP enterprise’s seventh plant in the play, where 400 MMcfd of processing capacity has been added in the last year. The Goliad plant is connected to the Sand Hills NGL pipeline to Mont Belvieu. The pipeline is a DCP Midstream joint venture with Phillips 66 and Spectra Energy.
