Tennessee Gas Pipeline announces successful Open Season

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners announced this week that all of its firm transportation capacity on the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Broad Run projects, which will move gas from West Virginia and Kentucky southward, have been taken up by Marcellus and Utica shale producer Antero Resources.

The open season for both projects – Broad Run Flexibility and Broad Run Expansion – ended on 11 April. The two projects total 790 000 Dt/d for long-term firm capacity for 15 years on the Broad Run Lateral in West Virginia south on Tennessee Gas' 100 and 500 mainlines, a Kinder Morgan press release said.

Scope of the Tennessee Gas Projects

The expected capital cost of the projects is approximately US$ 782 million, which includes horsepower and piping modifications at existing stations, and one new compressor station on the Broad Run Lateral, all in West Virginia; two new Tennessee Gas mainline compressor stations in Tennessee and Kentucky; and modifications to five existing mainline compressor stations in Kentucky.

"The results of the Broad Run open season demonstrate that demand for clean, efficient natural gas is continuing to drive production growth in the Marcellus, Utica and other shale resource plays, and that our assets are well positioned to serve those plays," said Kinder Morgan East Region Natural Gas Pipeline President Kimberly Watson.

"The capacity subscribed in this open season also underscores continued growth in Gulf Coast consumption markets and the need for more supply for processing, fractionation and liquefaction, and other end uses in the area," Watson said.

Dates and capacity

The Broad Run Flexibility Project will provide 590 000 Dt/d of firm transportation capacity from the Broad Run Lateral in Tennessee Zone 3 to delivery points in Tennessee Zone 1, located in the Southeast. The anticipated in-service date of the project is 1 November 2015.

The Broad Run Expansion Project will provide an incremental 200 000 Dt/d of firm transportation capacity on the same capacity path. The anticipated in-service date of this project is 1 November, 2017.

The Tennessee project: pipeline specifics

The Tennessee project is one in a swath of pipeline backhaul and reversals aiming to capture growing demand in the Southeast and Midwest.

Many of the pipelines proposing such projects are facing reduced utilisation rates as Northeast production crowds out supplies coming out of the Gulf Coast, among others.

In an operational update this week, Denver-based Antero said its taking of 100% of these projects' capacity would allow it to "access Gulf Coast pricing hubs as well as international LNG markets."

Antero also holds 100% capacity of the 200 000 million ft³/d backhaul project on the Rockies Express Pipeline from its production areas in Ohio. The project has been reported to go into service in June, although market sources said it went into service this month.

The impetus for operators like Antero to move supplies out of the prolific Appalachian regions to the Midwest and Southeast is to capture incoming power generation and industrial demand, as well as LNG exports in the future.

Edited from various sources by Elizabeth Corner

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/18042014/tennessee_gas_pipeline_announces_successful_open_season/