The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission conditionally authorized gas pipeline projects that would open up transportation routes for Colorado oil and gas producers.
The gas transportation projects proposed by Rockies Express Pipeline LLC and affiliate Cheyenne Connector LLC would add firm transportation and hub services at the western end of the Rockies Express pipeline. The authorizations are good news for the producers in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, Credit Suisse Director Spiro Dounis said in a Sept. 19 alert. "Timing likely 1Q20," Dounis said. "Positive for DJ producers as this was a major bottleneck."
FERC issued Natural Gas Act certificates to the companies for the Cheyenne Connector project and related facilities in a Sept. 19 order that was part of its monthly meeting agenda. The order was not immediately available in the FERC online library, and there were few details in the meeting summary, but typical conditions for gas transportation projects cover construction and environmental mitigation measures.
The order allowed Cheyenne Connector to build about 70 miles of interstate pipeline and related facilities in Weld County, Colo. The pipeline is designed to transport up to 600,000 Dth/d of gas from gas processing plants to an interconnect with the Rockies Express pipeline at the Cheyenne hub in Weld County.
The order also let Rockies Express build compression equipment and related facilities at the existing Cheyenne compressor station at the Cheyenne Hub. The facilities will allow the pipeline company to provide a new hub service involving the receipt and delivery of gas between Rockies Express and other pipelines connected to the hub, including the Cheyenne Connector pipeline.
In March 2018, Rockies Express applied for the Cheyenne hub upgrade and Cheyenne Connector applied for the pipeline. The pipeline company, largely owned by affiliates of Tallgrass Energy Partners LP and Phillips 66, estimated at the time that the hub project would cost almost $133 million. Tallgrass pushed FERC to approve the projects in April 2019.
Cheyenne Connector estimated that its pipeline project would cost about $213 million. The pipeline was designed to move gas from Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and DCP Midstream LP processing plants in Weld County to the Cheyenne hub. Anadarko and DCP supported the hub and pipeline projects.
The Rockies Express pipeline is a 1,700-mile system between the Rocky Mountains and Ohio. Pipelines and utilities that connect to the Cheyenne hub include Cheyenne Plains Gas Pipeline Co. LLC, Colorado Interstate Gas Co. LLC, Tallgrass Interstate Gas Transmission LLC, Trailblazer Pipeline Co. LLC, Wyoming Interstate Co. LLC and Public Service Co. of Colorado. (FERC dockets CP18-102, CP18-103)
Kinder Morgan Inc.'s Colorado Interstate Gas applied for a related expansion project that connects with the Cheyenne hub in February 2018. (FERC docket CP18-94)
