CenterPoint Energy Field Services LLC (CEFS) has begun assessing routing for a proposed gas gathering and processing system in the Mississippi Lime of north-central Oklahoma and south-central Kansas.

The CenterPoint Energy Inc. unit’s White Eagle Gathering System would include up to 300 miles of high-pressure gathering lines and up to 200 MMcf/d of processing capacity with amine treating and nitrogen removal, depending on customer requirements, CEFS said.

The system would interconnect with intrastate and interstate markets with natural gas liquids deliveries to the Medford Hub in Grant County, OK. Additional ancillary gathering and transportation services, such as low-pressure service at producer interconnects, a crude oil pipeline with interim trucking options or electric service for submersible pumps could also be provided, the company said.

“The White Eagle Gathering System would provide critical takeaway capacity for the growing natural gas, NGL [natural gas liquids] and crude oil production in the Mississippi Lime formation,” said Bill May, CEFS chief commercial officer. “This project would further solidify CEFS’s position as one of Oklahoma’s premier midstream companies and one of the largest independent midstream service providers in the shale plays of the Midcontinent region.”

The proposed project is scalable and the level of capital investment will depend on producer interest. Contingent upon ultimate customer commitments, portions of the system could be operational later this year or early next year, CEFS said.

Tulsa-based midstream company Caballo Energy LLC recently said that it was targeting the Mississippi Lime, as well as the Cana Woodford Shale, with its acquisition of Eagle Chief Midstream LLC, which owns a gas gathering and processing system in northwestern Oklahoma (see Shale Daily, Jan. 20).

Last month SandRidge Energy Inc. and Spain’s Repsol YPF SA formed a joint venture (JV) to target the Mississippi Lime, which is also referred to by many in the industry as the Mississippian Lime (see Shale Daily, Dec. 27, 2011). SandRidge will retain about 1.5 million net acres in the Mississippi Lime after the transaction closes, making it the largest leaseholder in the formation. SandRidge also has a JV with South Korean investment firm Atinum Partners Co. targeting the Mississippi Lime (see Shale Daily, Aug. 8, 2011).

Chesapeake Energy is also a major leaseholder in the formation with a reported 1.4 million net acres. That is more than the Oklahoma City-based producer holds in any unconventional play other than the Marcellus Shale, where Chesapeake holds almost 1.8 million net acres (see Shale Daily, Nov. 7, 2011).

Other significant leaseholders in the Mississippi Lime include Respol YPF (363,636 net acres), Chapparal Energy (244,000 net acres), Devon Energy (200,000 net acres) and Range Resources (105,000 net acres).