Aux Sable Liquid Products Inc. said its new natural gas liquids(NGL) extraction and fractionation facilities in Channahon, IL, wentinto operation last Friday in conjunction with the start-up of serviceon the Alliance Pipeline system (see Daily GPI, Dec. 1, 2000).

Aux Sable’s facilities initially are expected to process up to1.6 Bcf/d of natural gas being delivered over the Alliance systemfrom western Canada. In the initial phase, the company estimates itwill recover 40,000 barrels per day (bbls/d) of ethane, 19,000bbls/d of propane, 8,000 bbls/d of butane (normal and iso-butane)and 3,000 bbls/d of natural gasoline. The NGLs are used directly asenergy products and as feedstock for the petrochemical and crudeoil refining industries.

“Aux Sable has the potential to become one of the top producersof NGL in the United States, and effectively create a new NGLsupply center near Chicago. This new supply center is strategicallylocated to access large, and frequently supply-constrained NGLmarkets,” said William J. McAdam, COO of Aux Sable.

“Aux Sable.will become a significant propane supplier for theMidwest, particularly for the state of Illinois and its neighboringstates,” predicted Chairman and CEO Norman R. Gish. But, he noted,Aux Sable also has the ability to market its products elsewhere inthe United States via interconnections with existing productdelivery pipelines.

Marketing of all production from the Channahon plant will behandled through Aux Sable’s new corporate headquarters in Lisle,IL.

The investors in Aux Sable are the same as those in Alliance:Coastal Corp. (14.4%), Enbridge Inc. (21.4%), Fort Chicago EnergyPartners LP (26%), Williams (14.6%) and Westcoast Energy Inc.(23.6%).

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