The Coastal Corp.’s Wyoming Interstate Co. (WIC) filed anapplication with the FERC for construction of the Medicine BowLateral, a new 134-mile, 24-inch diameter gas pipeline designed toprovide transportation access to the developing Powder River Basinin Wyoming and Montana. Medicine Bow will receive Powder Rivercoal-bed methane gas from pipelines near Glenrock, WY, andtransport it to WIC’s mainline, west of Cheyenne, WY.

The $80.5 million project initially will provide capacity of 260MDth/d and can be expanded as necessary to accommodate productionincreases from the Powder River Basin, pipeline company officialssaid.

“Recent passage of federal legislation clarifying rights todrill for coal-bed methane gas under existing leases cleared theway for significant development of the Powder River Basin,” saidJon R. Whitney, WIC CEO. “Powder River is estimated to have morethan 39 Tcf of natural gas in place, making it a major new naturalgas supply source to meet growing national demand. The Gas ResearchInstitute projects that annual natural gas consumption in theUnited States will grow from the current level of 23 Tcf to 30 Tcfby the year 2015,” he noted.

Medicine Bow is expected to be in service Jan. 1, 2000, and WIChas long-term transportation commitments totaling 178 MDth/d.Commitments are expected to increase to 440 MDth/d over a four-yearperiod, the company said. WIC appears to have taken the lead overother pipeline companies, such as Questar and KN Energy, that haveproposed new projects to serve the basin. However, it’s early inthe game in the Powder River, where producers are only justbeginning to tap a vast resource. Some observers believe productionthere could support several new pipelines over the next few years.

Joe Fisher, Houston

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