Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline Co. (WBI), a subsidiary of MDU Resources Group, plans to expand its Grasslands Pipeline by up to 40 MMcf/d, it said last Tuesday.

Placed in service in December 2003, Grasslands runs from the Powder River Basin in northeastern Wyoming to western North Dakota, where it connects with the Northern Border Pipeline (see NGI, Dec. 15, 2003). The project includes the addition of mostly new compression facilities, and would add to the pipeline’s current total firm transportation of 138 MMcf/d. Grasslands was originally designed with an ultimate capacity of 200 MMcf/d.

Bismarck, ND-based Williston Basin estimated that the project cost would be in the range of $15 million to $20 million, and said the targeted in-service date of the expansion would be August 2009.

“Increased natural gas production in the Powder River Basin and the need for additional pipeline capacity to get this energy to major market areas is driving growth on our pipeline,” said MDU CEO Terry D. Hildestad. “This latest expansion is one of four currently under way at Williston Basin. These projects are in varying stages of development and hold the potential to provide significant increases in our throughput volumes over the next several years.”

The other three projects are:

An open season for the Grasslands expansion will begin on Monday (July 7) and will run through July 25, according to WBI. Open season documents will be available at www.wbip.com.

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