As natural gas produced from shale plays gains a larger slice of the gas market pie and production from the Gulf of Mexico continues to diminish, gas processing infrastructure is increasingly being added in non-Gulf Coast areas, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

According to the EIA, between 2009 and 2010 operators added about 13.3 Bcf/d of capacity, and 86% of that addition was located in non-Gulf Coast areas. Overall capacity grew from 77.5 Bcf/d to 90.8 Bcf/d. As natural gas production expands in new areas, additional processing and pipeline capacity may be needed.

Some plants are mobile, allowing them to be moved to process gas where the economics are most favorable for doing so, the agency said. Mark Sutton, executive director of the Gas Processors Association, told NGI that for years the industry has repurposed disused vessels from processing plants that were shut down for economic or other reasons. “I’m not sure I buy into the fact that there are more ‘mobile’ plants,” he said.

It is thought by some that a shortage of processing capacity in the Northeast may be a bottleneck in the continuing development of the Marcellus Shale, EIA noted.

Sutton said it has gotten more difficult for the industry to build new infrastructure since the Obama administration came to Washington. “It’s gotten much worse,” he said, adding that state regulatory agencies also are making things more difficult, although not necessarily intentionally.

In Pennsylvania, for instance, regulators there are just struggling to keep up with the pace of development occurring in the Marcellus Shale, Sutton said. “I think Pennsylvania recognizes the advantages of a healthy exploration and production and processing industry from a jobs situation, but a lot of others don’t.”

Last month Enterprise Products Partners LP COO Jim Teague told financial analysts the midstream sector offered a wealth of opportunities for development, including processing (see NGI, Aug. 15). “Market fundamentals continue to support midstream margins, and investments in this segment are racing to keep pace with upstream and downstream announcements,” he said.

According to a new EIA report on trends in gas processing in recent years:

In the Gulf Coast, some processing plants have shifted from processing offshore production from the Gulf of Mexico to processing gas from the Haynesville Shale in North Louisiana and East Texas and the Barnett Shale play in Texas. Gulf Coast processing capacity has continued to grow despite decreasing offshore production, EIA said.

©Copyright 2011Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.