Just returned to service after a rupture that is still being investigated, TransCanada Corp.’s Bison natural gas pipeline linking the Rockies to the upper Midwest is eyeing a number of potential markets, following a review of the line’s safety by federal authorities, Todd Johnson, TransCanada director of markets in the West, told the LDC Forum: Rockies & West meeting Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Despite strong comments through the two-day gas industry gathering about oversupplies of gas and shrinking demand, Johnson said Bison was eyeing potential new supplies from the Niobrara formation and a Bison expansion in the $450- 600 million range into the Rockies for the fully contracted 302-mile, 30-inch diameter pipeline, which began commercial operation at the start of this year.

Noting that Niobrara, which extends into North Dakota, is driven by oil economics, Johnson said TransCanada is hopeful that associated gas will come out of the mostly northeastern Colorado shale play. “We are certainly optimistic that there will be some gas that comes from Niobrara,” he said.

In addition, Bison may be beefed up by the development of lower-cost drilling in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, bumping up longer-term gas volumes out of the area. Johnson said the Bison extension south deeper into the Rockies could be pursued on a relatively small capital cost basis with the prospect of adding 300-600 MMcf/d of capacity with the 230-mile addition.

“The Rockies are expected to continue to grow,” said Johnson, citing at additional 4 Bcf of supply out of the Rockies by 2025. “So we’re certainly hopeful that Bison will get an opportunity to compete for some of that supply when it starts to run.”

Aside from Bison, TransCanada’s latest estimates see traditional Canadian reserves continuing to decline, but tight gas plays in British Columbia at Horn River and Montney are expected to add another 6.5 Bcf/d in the years ahead.

Johnson said Bison has undergone close scrutiny by the Pipeline Hazardous Materials and Safety Administration (PHMSA) following the rupture in July, which shut it down only six months after it began operation.

“We have had extensive dialogue with PHMSA [and others] to the point where they have allowed us to go back [into operation] to our maximum allowable operating pressure [MAOP],” he said. “We ran multiple fuel runs and provided lots of data, including lab results on carbon monoxide and a tool run, and they all worked. PHMSA spent a lot of time looking at data and asking a lot of questions, and ultimately let us go back online.”

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