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Williams
WMB and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP
BWP today
announced that they have executed a letter of intent to form a joint venture
that would develop a pipeline project to transport natural gas liquids from
the infrastructure-constrained Marcellus and Utica shale plays to the rapidly
expanding petrochemical and export complex on the U.S. Gulf Coast, as well as
the developing petrochemical market in the Northeast U.S.
The proposed “Bluegrass Pipeline” design would provide producers with 200,000
barrels per day of mixed NGLs take-away capacity in Ohio, West Virginia and
Pennsylvania. The proposed pipeline could be increased to 400,000 barrels per
day to meet market demand, primarily by adding additional liquids pumping
capacity. It would deliver mixed NGLs from these producing areas to proposed
new fractionation and storage facilities, which would have connectivity to
petrochemical facilities and product pipelines along the coasts of Louisiana
and Texas. Williams and Boardwalk are also exploring development of a new
export liquefied petroleum gas terminal and related facilities on the Gulf
Coast to provide customers access to international markets.
As proposed, the Bluegrass Pipeline would include the following:
* Constructing a new NGL pipeline from producing areas in West Virginia and
Ohio to an interconnect with Boardwalk's Texas Gas Transmission, LLC
system (Texas Gas) in Hardinsburg, Ky.;
* Converting a portion of Texas Gas from Hardinsburg, Ky. to Eunice, La.
(the “TGT Loop Line”) from natural gas service to NGL service, including
construction of new pump stations and related facilities; and
* Constructing a new large-scale fractionation plant and expanding natural
gas liquids storage facilities in Louisiana and a new pipeline connecting
these facilities to the converted TGT Loop Line.
By combining new construction with an existing pipeline, Williams and
Boardwalk believe that the Bluegrass Pipeline can be placed into service and
begin serving customers sooner than other options. Williams and Boardwalk are
engaged in comprehensive project development planning including project
design, cost estimating, economic and risk analysis, customer contracting,
permitting and other legal and regulatory approvals and right-of-way
acquisition. Williams and Boardwalk expect to sanction the project this year
and place the planned project into service in the second half of 2015 assuming
all necessary conditions are met.
“We are designing Bluegrass Pipeline to provide these two world-class resource
plays with access to one of the largest and most dynamic petrochemical markets
in the world. In turn, this will help producers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West
Virginia achieve an attractive value for their ethane and other liquids,” said
Alan Armstrong, president and chief executive officer of Williams. “The
current infrastructure challenge with natural gas liquids in the Northeast is
slowing drilling and isolating liquids supplies from the robust markets in the
Gulf that are poised to grow substantially over the next five years.”
“Given current market dynamics in the Northeast, existing liquids systems and
local outlets will be overwhelmed by 2016. Total NGL volumes in the Northeast
are expected to exceed 1.2 million barrels per day by 2020. The proposed
Bluegrass Pipeline joint venture would support Williams' midstream assets in
the region, offer an attractive return and enable Williams to become the
premier NGL infrastructure provider by economically linking the Utica and
Marcellus region to petrochemical complexes on the U.S. Gulf,” Armstrong said.
“We are delighted to be working with Williams on this exciting project,” said
Stan Horton, president and CEO of Boardwalk. “We believe that the unique
arrangement of this planned project would create several strategic advantages,
including a faster in-service date complemented by a significantly reduced
construction footprint than could be achieved with a completely organic
project.”
“Our pursuit of this project is also consistent with Boardwalk's long-term
growth strategy of diversifying within the midstream energy sector and
leveraging our newly-acquired liquids infrastructure assets at Boardwalk
Louisiana Midstream, which provide a critical footprint for the downstream
fractionation and storage portion of this project. Another key element is that
Texas Gas would connect its natural gas customers along the length of the
converted TGT Loop Line to the remaining Texas Gas lines and will continue to
provide them, and all of Texas Gas' natural gas customers, with safe and
reliable natural gas transportation service,” said Horton.
Sanctioning and completion of this project is subject to, among other
conditions, negotiation and execution of definitive joint venture and related
agreements; execution of customer contracts sufficient to support the project;
and the parties' receipt of all necessary approvals, including board approvals
and regulatory approvals, such as antitrust clearance under the
Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, approvals by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC), among others. Before Texas Gas Transmission may
begin converting the TGT Loop Line, it must receive abandonment authority from
FERC. Boardwalk plans to file the abandonment application with FERC by May 1,
2013 and the abandonment process is estimated to take between nine to twelve
months.
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