With most of the pipeline’s original 15-year term natural gas transportation agreements ending on Nov. 30, 2015, Alliance Pipeline is offering capacity on its system effective Dec. 1, 2015.

Starting Aug. 15, customers can express interest in Dec. 1, 2015 capacity on the Alliance system, which consists of 2,311 miles of integrated Canadian and U.S. high-pressure transmission pipeline system, delivering gas from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and the Williston Basin to the Chicago market hub. The pipeline said capacity will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis as precedent agreements are executed.

“Since last October, when we launched our proposed New Services Framework, Alliance has held over 60 customer consultations. The consultation process helped us further refine our service offerings to better meet shippers’ needs in a dynamic marketplace,” said Daniel Sutherland, vice-president of business development. “The precedent agreement process we’ve put in place responds to the interest expressed in acquiring capacity on our pipeline post-2015.”

The U.S. section of the system includes about 900 miles of mainline and related infrastructure. The pipeline has been in commercial service since December 2000 and delivers, on average, about 1.6 Bcf/d.

Alliance’s New Services Framework includes:

As part of this new framework, Alliance will also be applying for regulatory approval to change its hydrocarbon dewpoint (HCDP) tariff specification effective Dec. 1, 2015. The HCDP change will facilitate an increase in the natural gas liquids (NGL) component of Alliance capacity.

“To further establish Alliance as the transporter of choice for rich gas, we are initiating a change in our hydrocarbon dewpoint tariff specification from -10 degrees C (14 F) to -5 degrees C (23 F),” said Sutherland. “Alliance will be the only long-haul, dense-phase natural gas pipeline operating with an HCDP of -5 degrees C (23 F) shipping from Canada to premium downstream markets.”

The Alliance system is capable of transporting methane and entrained NGLs in a dense-phase stream. Alliance says its rich gas design allows producers to avoid costly investments in gas plant processing infrastructure. The Aux Sable Liquid Products plant at the Alliance system’s southern end near Chicago extracts and fractionates the various NGL components into specific marketable products.

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