Horizontal drilling in the Texas Panhandle has unlocked higher-value natural gas liquids (NGL), which Enbridge Energy Partners LP plans to process in a new cryogenic plant it will construct on its Anadarko gathering system, the company said Monday.

The plant, with a planned capacity of 150 MMcf/d, is needed to accommodate a resurgence of horizontal drilling activity in the NGL-rich Granite Wash formation in the Panhandle, the company said.

“The Granite Wash, which has been a vertical play in the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma for several years, has seen a significant increase in drilling activity due to more sophisticated horizontal drilling and completion techniques and strong natural gas liquids prices,” said Terrance L. McGill, president of the partnership’s management company and of its general partner. “This new, state-of-the-art processing facility would enhance the value of local gas production through the more efficient extraction of valuable NGLs.”

The plant would increase the Anadarko system’s total processing capacity to more than 650 MMcf/d. The partnership also plans to add field compression and pipeline facilities to accommodate the increasing Granite Wash gas volumes. The new plant is anticipated to be operational by the end of the first quarter of 2011.

As natural gas prices remain depressed, growing NGL production has become a popular option for producers seeking to increase revenue as NGL prices are more closely linked with oil prices (see Daily GPI, April 8).

Enbridge’s Anadarko System has gathering and processing assets in the Texas Panhandle, serving Roberts, Hemphill and Wheeler counties in Texas and western Oklahoma.

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