In order to meet the growing need for natural gas residue takeaway capacity in southeastern Oklahoma and provide more downstream optionality, Tall Oak Midstream III LLC on Tuesday launched a nonbinding open season to secure prospective shippers for a proposed 80-mile pipeline.

The Arkoma Residue Capacity Pipeline (ARC) would connect to both Tall Oak’s planned 200 MMcf/d Panther Creek Natural Gas Processing Plant in Hughes County and a planned receipt point off the Enable Gas Transmission line, which is also in Hughes County.

While the Panther facility’s tailgate is expected to connect to the Enable Oklahoma Intrastate Transmission, Enable Gas Transmission and Arkoma Connector pipelines, Tall Oak said its customers working in the Arkoma STACK, i.e., the Sooner Trend of the Anadarko Basin, mostly in Canadian and Kingfisher counties, want more outlets. From its two receipt points in Hughes County, the ARC would transport residue gas to multiple interconnects with Midcontinent Express Pipeline LLC, Gulf Crossing Pipeline Co. LLC and the Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America, all located near Bennington, OK, farther to the South in Bryan County.

“We are seeing a very rapid rise in production in this region and a related increase in demand for takeaway capacity,” said Tall Oak Chief Commercial Officer Carlos Evans. “The ARC Pipeline will connect the Arkoma STACK with premium downstream markets.”

Tall Oak said construction of the ARC Pipeline is expected to begin in 2Q2019. Pending regulatory approval, the company is targeting an in-service date sometime before the end of that year. The company will need approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to build the pipeline. The open season, Tall Oak added, would ensure that ARC’s design meets shipper needs.

The open season closes at 5 p.m. CST on March 30. Interested parties should contact Blake Burger, director of commercial development, at bburger@talloakmidstream.com, or Miranda Davis, manager of gas scheduling, at mdavis@talloakmidstream.com. Both can be reached at 405-888-5585. More information is available on the company’s website.

ARC would expand private equity-backed Tall Oak’s Arkoma STACK system, which serves more than 150,000 dedicated acres and includes 90 miles of gathering pipeline, two compression facilities, a 5,000 b/d stabilizer and condensate storage facilities. In addition to Panther Creek, the company is working to add 150 miles of gathering lines and two more compressor stations by the end of this year.

Oklahoma City-based Tall Oak III was formed last year with an equity commitment from its management and EnCap Flatrock Midstream. Tall Oak II works in the northwestern portion of the STACK, while Tall Oak I was sold to a subsidiary of EnLink Midstream Partners LP in 2016.