TEPPCO Partners LP and Enterprise Products Partners LP on Wednesday announced the start-up of a new pipeline loop that was constructed as part of the Phase V expansion of the Jonah Gas Gathering System in southwest Wyoming, which serves producers in the prolific Jonah and Pinedale fields.

The pipeline loop is the first segment of the Phase V expansion and includes 75 miles of 36-inch diameter pipeline and 12 miles of 24-inch diameter pipe that transport natural gas from the Jonah and Pinedale fields to processing plants and interstate natural gas pipelines near Opal, WY. The new pipeline loop expands the gathering system’s current capacity by 250 MMcf/d to 1.75 Bcf/d, according to the companies.

The Phase V project capacity will be expandable to 2.4 Bcf/d following the installation of approximately 157,000 horsepower of compression, which is expected to be carried out in phases beginning in April 2007 and completed by the end of 2007.

“We are on track to complete the Phase V project as scheduled and realize the full 2.4 Bcf/d of capacity by the fourth quarter of 2007. With the completion of the pipeline expansion, we have nearly quadrupled capacity on the Jonah Gas Gathering System since TEPPCO purchased it in 2001,” said Jerry E. Thompson, president and CEO of TEPPCO’s general partner. Houston-based TEPPCO and Enterprise Products co-own the Jonah Gas Gathering System.

Located in the Greater Green River Basin in southwestern Wyoming, the Jonah Gas Gathering System serves over 1,100 wells through almost 700 miles of pipeline and is currently gathering about 1.5 Bcf/d of natural gas, which represents more than 85% of the current production from the Jonah and Pinedale fields. The system accesses four major interstate pipelines: Northwest Pipeline, Kern River Gas Transmission, Colorado Interstate Gas and Questar Pipeline.

The Jonah and Pinedale fields are ranked as the sixth and third largest natural gas fields, respectively, in the United States in terms of proven reserves reported to the Energy Information Administration. Annual volume growth in the two fields has averaged more than 30% during the past five years and over 40 drilling rigs are currently active in the play, according to the companies.

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