Thunder Creek Gas Services LLC, a joint venture of KN Energy andDevon Energy, has completed construction on a major, new gatheringtrunkline designed to meet the expanding production in Wyoming’sPowder River Basin, which is being touted as the “most active”coal-bed methane play in the nation.

The company expects to begin early gas flows on the 126-mile,450 MMcf/d trunkline system later this month, with full operationexpected to start in the fall after the installation of acarbon-dioxide removal facility, said Vince White of Devon Energy,a Tulsa, OK-based producer that’s extremely active in the basin.The 24-inch gathering network will run from north of Gillette, WY,to near the Glenrock Hub in the north central part of the state.

Prior to entering the pipeline system, the coal-bed methane gaswill be treated in a carbon-dioxide extraction facility nearGlenrock that still is under construction by the Thunder Creekjoint venture, which was formed last year. The CO2 plant is “verylarge,” and is prepared to accept gas streams containing a CO2content of up to 5%, a level that is considered “high for thatarea,” White said.

The processed gas then would flow into the existing KNInterstate pipeline, Colorado Interstate Gas’ system at Glenrock,Wyoming Interstate Co. Inc.’s (WIC) Medicine Bow Lateral (whichjust received final FERC approval), and KN Interstate’s proposedPathfinder pipeline project-a 150-mile line that would carry gasfrom Glenrock to the Rockport Hub in northeastern Colorado. KN hasyet to file an application for Pathfinder at FERC.

The estimated cost of the Thunder Creek gathering trunkline,related compression and the processing plant is $100 million, Whitesaid. He noted this will be the first new gathering system to comeon-line for Powder River producers, some of whom have had to shutin production because the existing gathering and deliveryinfrastructure hasn’t been able to handle it.

Two other gathering systems also are planned for the boomingproduction region. The Fort Union Gas Gathering project, a 106-milesystem, currently is being built by a consortium of fivecompanies-including CIG Resources Co., Barrett Resources, CMSContinental Natural Gas, Western Gas Resources and Enron Capitaland Trade Corp. The 450 MMcf/d gathering line is scheduled to startup in September. In addition, the consortium is building a CO2extraction facility.

Also slated for construction is the Northern Header GasGathering project, a 256-mile system that would move up to 500MMcf/d from the northeast end of the basin near Gillette andSheridan, WY, southward into the Fort Union system. The header,which is expected to be operational by Nov. 1, would gather gas forCMS Oil and Gas, the production arm of CMS Energy, and Denver-basedPennaco Energy.

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