A 280 MMcf/d sour gas facility, designed to serve Montney Shale producers working in the Pipestone region of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, is underway by a unit of SemGroup Corp.

Calgary-based subsidiary SemCAMS ULC said the proposed Pipeline Central Facility is being designed to process raw sour gas with up to 10% hydrogen sulfide and 16,000 b/d of condensate.

“The long-term outlook for Montney development, SemCAMS’ expertise at safely and reliably operating sour gas plants, as well as our unique solution for handling the acid gas, makes us the midstream service provider of choice in the area,” said SemCAMS Vice President David Gosse. “The Pipestone Central Facility is the next step in SemCAMS’ growth strategy.”

Preliminary engineering is underway for the new facility, and the license application has been submitted to the Alberta Energy Regulator. Discussions are ongoing with area producers, with a final investment decision expected if SemCAMS is successful in securing long-term processing arrangements.

The facility, if approved, would be connected to existing infrastructure through a proposed Pipestone Pipeline. An application for the pipeline would be submitted at a later date, SemCAMS said.

Similar to the Wapiti Gas Plant that SemCAMS currently is constructing, the Pipestone facility is expected to have zero sulfur emissions.

Acid gas would be removed from the production stream and sent to SemCAMS’ existing K3 plant through the to-be-built Pipestone Pipeline and through SemCAMS’ 200-kilometer (124-mile) Simonette/Wapiti pipeline system. At the K3 plant, the acid gas would be processed, with the sulfur removed and formed into a saleable product.

“This strategic advantage, which is unique to SemCAMS, eliminates the need to inject the acid gas in the ground and reduces area stakeholder concerns around sulphur emissions and underground acid gas storage,” management said.

The Wapiti plant is on budget and scheduled for an early 2019 startup. Construction of the Pipestone facility would increase SemCAMS’ licensed sour gas processing capacity to more than 1.9 Bcf/d in Canada.

SemCAMS already has sour gas facilities in Canada near Whitecourt and Fox Creek, and it operates two sweet gas processing facilities in the region.