Everest Energy and Major Pipeline Co. said Wednesday that by the end of this year, they will begin construction on the first phase of the Rimrock Pipeline, a high-pressure natural gas gathering pipeline through portions of Campbell, Johnson and Sheridan counties in Wyoming. The pipe would serve a substantial portion of the Powder River Basin by gathering coalbed methane (CBM) gas on the western side, and transporting it to existing pipes on the eastern side of the basin.

In Phase I, estimated to cost $15 million, the Rimrock pipe would be capable of handling up to 150 MMcf/d. Phase II would begin construction by next summer, and its completion would more than double the pipe’s capacity to 300-350 MMcf/d. The pipeline would have an expansion capability of 500 MMcf/d.

Right-of-way acquisitions and the pipeline survey are now being conducted, and the first phase is expected to be in service by the end of December. The principal interconnect and the eastern terminus of Rimrock would be the Landeck Station at the Thunder Creek Pipeline, located northwest of Gillette, WY. The western terminus would be located near the edge of the Big Horn Mountains, with the route passing through several thousand acres of potential CBM development.

Everest Energy and Major Pipeline, both Michigan based, are privately held diversified energy companies. For more information, contact Jerry Rushmore at Major Pipeline, (616) 774-2600 or Shanti Sharma at Everest Energy, (810) 445-2582.

Last fall, Enron subsidiary Northern Border Pipeline proposed a 325-mile greenfield pipeline from McCabe, MT, to Gillette, WY to tap the Powder River Basin reserves (see Daily GPI, Nov. 3, 2000). Northern Border’s Bison Pipeline first proposed adding a new route out of the basin for between 375,000-500,000 MMBtu/d beginning in November 2003. Receipt points, proposed with Bighorn, Fort Union Gas Gathering, MIGC and Thunder Creek Gas Services, would have a bi-directional interconnect, accessing Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline’s Baker storage field.

However, after completing its first open season last December, Northern Border said that producers indicated that the initial volume amounts were too high. Now on the table is an initial pipe capacity of about 275,000 MMBtu/d and ramping up to 375,000 MMBtu/d over a three-year period. Another open season is expected to be announced in the next three months. Service is still anticipated for the initial phase by the end of 2003.

According to Wyoming officials, the Powder River Basin is one of the fastest growing CBM plays in the country, with a potential of more than 30 Tcf. In the past three years, nearly 9,000 wells have been drilled in the basin.

©Copyright 2001 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.