With Bighorn Gas Gathering LLC turning a year old this month,the joint-venture which consists of CMS Energy affiliates andNorthern Border Partners L.P. continues to sign up new customersfor its Powder River Basin natural gas gathering system, upping itstotal number of producers to six with the newly announced additionof Prima Oil and Gas, a subsidiary of Prima Energy.

Bighorn has entered into long-term agreements with Prima toprovide gas gathering services for Prima’s coal-bed methane gasproduction on approximately 10,000 acres of land. Bighorn willextend its gathering system west of Gillette, WY to access Prima’s4,000 acre Kingsbury/Throne prospect, which currently has over 30wells drilled on it and the potential of 70 more. The agreementalso includes about 6,000 acres of dedicated property in CampbellCounty’s Stones Throw prospect area, which was leased by Prima. Thecompany has drilled 110 coal-bed methane wells on the plot already.

Prima is the latest addition of producers using the gatheringsystem. Other users under agreement with Bighorn include: CMS Oiland Gas; Pennaco Energy; J.M. Huber Corp.; Gastar ExplorationLtd.’s subsidiary, First Sourcenergy Wyoming; and Lance Oil &Gas, a subsidiary of Western Gas Resources.

The addition of Prima’s production to its gathering system caps abusy November for Bighorn. Last month the company announced thecompletion of a 56-mile, $17.8 million extension to its existing100-mile gathering system (see Daily GPI, Nov. 17).

The Bighorn gas gathering system moves approximately 250 MMcf/din coal-bed methane gas from the northern part of the Powder RiverBasin, and delivers it to the Fort Union Gas Gathering System andother U.S. markets via interstate pipeline connections to FortUnion. Currently, Bighorn has long-term contracts with producerscovering gas production from almost 800,000 acres of dedicatedproperty.

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