The long awaited start-up of the remaining 210-mile portion of REX-West, which runs from an ANR Pipeline meter station in Brown County, KS, to Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line (PEPL) in Audrain County, MO, has finally arrived as Rockies Express announced Friday that full service will begin on Tuesday.

Rockies Express said it has received all necessary regulatory approvals to place the remaining portion of REX-West into service. The company is in the process of packing the line and expects to complete the line pack operations on Monday to enable the commencement of REX-West full service to the PEPL interconnect on Tuesday.

Assuming line pack operations go as scheduled and final gas quality specifications are met for deliveries to the PEPL delivery point, Rockies Express said it will begin accepting nominations on Monday for full service for deliveries to PEPL effective for gas day Tuesday. The increase in demand charges for REX West full service would also be effective on Tuesday.

The majority of the REX-West leg began operation in mid-January (see NGI, Jan. 14). That included 500 miles of pipe from the Cheyenne Hub in Weld County, CO, to the ANR meter station in Kansas. The throughput on that segment was approximately 1.8 Bcf/d.

The nearly 1,700-mile REX pipeline system is being built in three main sections, including the 327-mile REX-Entrega line, the 710-mile REX-West leg and the 640-mile REX-East portion, which would take gas from Audrain County, MO, to Clarington, OH. The REX-Entrega pipeline, which is in operation, extends from the Meeker Hub in Rio Blanco County, CO, northward to the Wamsutter Hub in Sweetwater County, WY, and then southeastward to the Cheyenne Hub. The REX-East portion of the pipeline is still in the environmental permitting stage at FERC. The REX-East leg received a favorable final environmental nod from the agency last month (see NGI, April 14).

The $4.5 billion REX pipeline, which will carry Rockies gas to Ohio, will be the largest built in the United States in more than 20 years. The pipeline is owned by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP, Sempra Pipelines & Storage and ConocoPhillips.

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