The midstream sector continued to respond last week to producers’ thirst for natural gas liquids (NGL) profits with the announcement of two Gulf Coast projects to handle growing production and another that would increase transport of Rockies NGLs to the Gulf.

ONEOK Partners LP said it plans to spend $910 million to $1.2 billion between now and late 2013 on new infrastructure:

Not to be left out Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) and Regency Energy Partners LP days later said their Lone Star NGL LLC joint venture would construct a 100,000 b/d NGL fractionation facility at Mont Belvieu.

“These projects will accommodate the growing NGL supplies in the Midcontinent and elsewhere and help alleviate the infrastructure constraints between the Midcontinent and Gulf Coast markets, while meeting the requirements of natural gas processors and NGL customers,” said ONEOK Partners COO Terry K. Spencer.

ONEOK said supply commitments, which are in various stages of negotiation for both the new pipeline and fractionator, would be anchored by NGL production from third-party processors.

The new Sterling III Pipeline would cost $610-810 million and would have an initial capacity to transport 193,000 b/d of either unfractionated NGLs or NGL purity products from the partnership’s NGL infrastructure at Medford, OK, to its storage and fractionation facilities at Mont Belvieu. Once complete, it would double the partnership’s current pipeline capacity between Medford and Mont Belvieu.

The investment also includes reconfiguring the existing Sterling I and II pipelines, which currently distribute NGL purity products between the Midcontinent and Gulf Coast NGL market centers, to transport either unfractionated NGLs or NGL purity products.

“Building this new pipeline and reconfiguring our existing Sterling I and II pipelines give us the flexibility to transport and optimize the flow of unfractionated or purity NGLs through all three pipelines,” Spencer said. “These pipeline projects, along with our previously announced Arbuckle Pipeline and Sterling I Pipeline expansions, further enhance our ability to transport NGLs — either unfractionated or purity products — to Gulf Coast markets.”

When operational all three Sterling pipelines would be capable of transporting either unfractionated NGLs or purity NGL products. Construction is expected to begin in early 2013, following receipt of necessary permits and the acquisition of right-of-way. It is anticipated that a portion of the existing right-of-way on the Sterling I and II pipelines can be used. Completion is scheduled in late 2013. With additional pump stations, the Sterling III Pipeline’s capacity could be expanded to 250,000 b/d.

The partnership recently submitted a permit application to build the 75,000 b/d fractionator to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Following receipt of all necessary permits, construction of the fractionator is scheduled to begin in 2011 and is currently expected to be completed in mid-2013.

Regarding the separate Lone Star project, ETP said it would “utilize a substantial amount of [the] fractionation capacity” to handle NGLs it will deliver from its Jackson County, TX, processing plant, which is supported by multiple 10-year contracts with producers as a part of the partnership’s Eagle Ford Shale projects. Additionally, Regency expects to provide NGLs to the project.

Lone Star — which recently acquired the midstream assets of Louis Dreyfus Highbridge Energy (see NGI, March 28) — expects to have the fractionation facilities completed by the first quarter of 2013 at a cost of $350-375 million. Lone Star said it will develop additional storage facilities for y-grade liquids and other components. The project will include interconnectivity infrastructure to provide NGL suppliers and NGL markets with “significant” access to storage, other fractionators, pipelines and multiple markets along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast.

“There is a growing demand for fractionation capacity, storage capacity and interconnectivity at Mont Belvieu, and this is the first major step toward becoming an even larger service provider in the Mont Belvieu area,” said Greg Bowles, Lone Star senior vice president.

There also is growing demand to get NGLs out of the Rockies region and to the Gulf coast, according to Enterprise Products Partners LP, which plans to expand the Rocky Mountain segment of its Mid-America Pipeline (MAPL), adding 85,000 b/d of incremental NGL capacity.

“The additional capacity is designed to accommodate growing natural gas and NGL production from major basins in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico,” the partnership said. “Several new natural gas processing plants are being constructed in the Uinta, Piceance, and Greater Green River basins that should fill the expansion by 2014.”

The expansion is supported by shipper commitments obtained during an open season that concluded late last month. The project is to include pipeline looping with up to 290 miles of 16-inch diameter pipeline, as well as pump station modifications.

“Shippers executed 10-year, firm, ship-or-pay transportation agreements representing a total initial commitment of 38,500 b/d with options which could ultimately increase the total expansion to 85,000 b/d,” said Jim Teague, COO of Enterprise’s general partner.

Subject to regulatory approvals, the project is expected to begin service in the third quarter of 2014.

Enterprise is in the process of increasing its fractionation capabilities by 75,000 b/d, bringing total capacity at the complex to 375,000 b/d following its expected completion in the fourth quarter.

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