Linn Energy Inc. subsidiary Blue Mountain Midstream LLC has commissioned part of its Chisholm Trail III cryogenic processing plant in Grady County, OK, to serve growing natural gas production in the region and now is considering another expansion.

The facility has an initial design capacity of 150 MMcf/d, with the full 250 MMcf/d expected to become available in the fourth quarter once 25,000 hp of compression is installed.

The company announced plans for the plant a year ago. Chisholm Trail midstream system has grown since, with a dedicated position of more than 80,000 net acres backed by long-term contracts. The processing plant and midstream system serves acreage that overlays the Merge prospect and Oklahoma’s myriad reservoirs, including the South Central Oklahoma Oil Province (SCOOP) and the Sooner Trend of the Anadarko Basin, mostly in Canadian and Kingfisher counties (STACK).

Based on producer commitments and anticipated production growth from companies including Oklahoma pure-play Roan Resources LLC, which Linn and Citizen Energy II LLC formed last year, Blue Mountain said Tuesday it may build another 250 MMcf/d train at the 80-acre site near Tuttle, OK, which could ultimately expand capacity to 500 MMcf/d by 2019.

“Blue Mountain’s customers continue to see exceptional drilling results, drilling efficiencies and are increasing their drilling activity,” CEO Greg Harper said. “In light of this, combined with our growing acreage commitments, throughput forecasts for the area continue to rise. In response, we will add processing capacity and access to downstream markets to stay ahead of our customers’ drilling schedules. This includes evaluating the addition of a second train expansion to the facility.”

Additional expansion plans could include 55,000 hp of compression, more than 130 miles of high- and low-pressure gathering line extensions and additional delivery interconnects by the end of 2020.

The company said the new plant is currently processing more than 100 MMcf/d, which is expected to ramp to 150 MMcf/d in the coming weeks to meet producer demands. The facility also includes interconnections into the Southern Star Central, Enable Gas Transmission and Oneok Gas Transportation natural gas pipelines. Oneok Hydrocarbon is also providing natural gas liquids transportation from the facility.

The possibility of another expansion comes when natural gas and oil production from the United States’ seven most prolific onshore unconventional plays is expected to continue in August, according to the Energy Information Administration’s latest Drilling Productivity Report. Each play is expected to see increased natural gas production in August compared to July, with volumes in the Anadarko Basin forecast to rise from 7.02 Bcf/d to 7.12 Bcf/d.

More specifically, in Oklahoma, there were 141 rigs operating at the end of last week, compared to 134 that were running at the same time last year, according to Baker Hughes Inc. data.