Duke Energy Gas Transmission (DEGT) received National Energy Board (NEB) authorization to operate its expanded Fort Nelson natural gas processing plant in northeastern British Columbia. The expansion added 88 MMcf/d of processing capacity, bringing total capacity to 878 MMcf/d. The plant processes gas from fields in the Fort Nelson area, the southern Northwest Territories and the Yukon.

“Prior to the redesign, our Fort Nelson processing facility was fully contracted and the redesign project was supported by long-term customer commitments. With growing producer activity in the Fort Nelson and southern Northwest Territories areas, we are very excited about future prospects,” said Doug Haughey, president of the BC Pipeline and Field Services divisions of Duke Energy Gas Transmission.

The project included changing the treating solution in two of the existing six processing trains and the addition of equipment to process the resulting increased volume of raw natural gas. The gas flows from the outlet of the Fort Nelson plant to DEGT’s BC Mainline and on to key markets in British Columbia, the U.S. Pacific Northwest and beyond.

Duke Energy also is in the process of completing a 43 MMcf/d expansion of its Fort Nelson Mainline. The expansion of the former Westcoast Energy system accommodates strong production growth in the area. It included the addition of 2.5 miles of 36-inch diameter pipeline on the north end of Duke’s BC system to compressor station N5, which is about 10 miles north of Beryl Prairie in British Columbia.

Duke also recently told the NEB that it expects exports from British Columbia to the Pacific Northwest to reach 1.345 Bcf/d in 2016 compared to the 891 MMcf/d in 2001 and the 896 MMcf/d expected this year. The company is planning a 10% (200 MMcf/d) capacity increase on its BC mainline, which would bring system capacity to 2.1 Bcf/d by fall 2003.

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