The Pipelines Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has authorized increases in the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) from 0.72 to 0.8 design on portions of the Midcontinent Express (MEP) and Rockies Express (REX) pipelines and on all of the Kinder Morgan Louisiana Pipeline.

MEP has received authorization to increase MAOP on a portion of its Zone 1, enabling it to serve its full current contracted capacity level. The 500-mile MEP originates in southeast Oklahoma, crosses northeast Texas, northern Louisiana, central Mississippi and ends in Alabama. MEP will increase to the 0.8 design MAOP on approximately 267 miles of Zone 1 from Paris, TX, to Delhi, LA. This will boost firm deliverable capacity to 1.4 Bcf/d on that portion of the pipeline. MEP Zone 2 extends from Delhi to Transcontinental Pipe Line’s Station 85 in Butler, AL, and has a current capacity of nearly 1 Bcf/d.

MEP’s capacity, including expansions (see Daily GPI, Sept. 18), is fully subscribed with long-term binding commitments. MEP is owned by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) and Energy Transfer Partners LP. KMP operates the pipeline. MEP was approved for construction last year (see Daily GPI, July 29, 2008). The pipeline serves shale gas producers in Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma, giving them access to southern and eastern markets.

REX, which transports gas from the Rockies to Ohio, is now authorized to transport natural gas at the 0.8 design MAOP from the Cheyenne Hub in Colorado to the Lebanon Hub in Ohio. This will boost firm deliverable capacity to 1.8 Bcf/d upon implementation of the 0.8 design. Nearly all of the capacity on the pipeline has been subscribed with long-term binding commitments (see Daily GPI, Aug. 24). Construction is being completed on the final 195 miles of the 1,679-mile line, which will terminate in Clarington, OH. The final leg is expected to be in service by Nov. 1, at which time REX plans to request authorization to operate this portion of the pipeline at the 0.8 design MAOP. REX is a venture of KMP, Sempra Pipelines and Storage and ConocoPhillips.

The Kinder Morgan Louisiana Pipeline, a 133-mile line that transports gas to multiple pipeline interconnects from the Cheniere Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas terminal in Louisiana, will increase to the 0.8 design MAOP on the entire pipeline. It has 3.2 Bcf/d of capacity that has been fully subscribed for 20 years by Chevron and TOTAL, KMP said (see Daily GPI, June 23).

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