Increasing Piceance Basin production in Colorado and new takeaway capacity out of the Rockies to Midwestern markets have prompted TransColorado Gas Transmission to test market interest in a 300,000 Dth/d expansion of its system.

The project would include installation of a new north-end compressor station that would enable the pipeline to reverse gas flows on a 46-mile portion of its system between DeBeque, CO, and the Greasewood Hub in Rio Blanco County.

The project would provide 200,000 Dth/d of incremental firm transportation capacity in January 2006 and another 100,000 Dth/d in January 2008. The expansion would include a new interconnect with El Paso Corp.’s Wyoming Interstate Co., which would enable gas to flow to the Cheyenne Hub in northeastern Colorado, an interconnection point with major eastbound pipeline systems, including the Cheyenne Plains pipeline, which is currently under construction.

TransColorado said its expansion project would not impact existing southbound gas flows. Customers would still have the ability to transport gas from the north end of the system to San Juan Basin delivery points. However, the project would satisfy increasing interest in moving gas to markets in the Midcontinent and the Midwest.

The Cheyenne Plains pipeline system, a 380 mile 36-inch diameter pipeline from the Cheyenne Hub to Greensburg, KS, is expected to begin transporting up to 560,000 Dth/d of gas in January. The pipeline will provide significant new takeaway pipeline capacity to a region that has been capacity constrained for years. TransColorado’s project will allow more upstream supply to flow to Cheyenne Plains.

For details on the TransColorado open season, which ends Oct. 1, contact Julian Huzyk at (303) 763-3230 or Steve Irizarry at (303) 763-3473.

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