Rockies Express Pipeline LLC is hoping to add roughly 1 Bcf/d of hub service capacity near the western end of its system to flow more gas produced in Colorado's DJ Basin to other interstate pipelines.
Rockies Express Pipeline, or REX, which said it functions as a "de facto header system" connected to Rockies and Appalachian production at either end of the line, applied with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a project that would allow it to move more gas at the Cheyenne hub on its natural gas pipeline system and provide a new hub service to connected pipelines. An affiliate, Cheyenne Connector LLC, also applied for a 70-mile, 600,000 Dth/d pipeline that would connect the hub to production in Weld County, Colorado.
REX asked for authorization of the hub project by the end of February 2019 in order to meet a planned in-service date of Oct. 1, 2019.
Once the proposed hub facilities are in service, REX plans to establish a new hub service. The service would allow gas to be received by the hub and redelivered to another point within the hub. REX has received commitments in the form of precedent agreements with two unaffiliated shippers, Anadarko Energy Services Co. and DCP Midstream Marketing LLC, for a combined 600,000 Dth/d of the total 1 MMDth/d of firm hub service capacity created by the project.
REX estimated the total construction cost for the hub project to be $132.8 million. The project would include six booster compressor units providing a total of 32,100 horsepower, as well as other facilities and equipment modifications. The company said the project would not hurt existing shippers and would have little impact on communities and the environment because the booster units would be built within its existing Cheyenne compressor station yard in Weld County, Colo. (FERC docket CP18-103)
Rockies Express pipeline is a 1,700-mile system, with Wyoming and Colorado at one end and Ohio on the other, and many connections to interstate pipelines in between. The new hub facilities would allow it to receive or deliver gas on a firm basis between REX and other pipelines at the Cheyenne hub. The connected systems are Cheyenne Plains Gas Pipeline Co. LLC, Colorado Interstate Gas Co. LLC, Tallgrass Interstate Gas Transmission LLC, Public Service Co. of Colorado, Trailblazer Pipeline Co. LLC and Wyoming Interstate Co. LLC.
Related, Kinder Morgan Inc.'s Colorado Interstate Gas applied at the end of February for a $14.5 million expansion project that connects with the Cheyenne hub complex. (FERC docket CP18-94)
With the Cheyenne Connector project, REX will also be able to receive up to 600,000 Dth/d from that pipeline at the Cheyenne hub. In the abbreviated application for the Cheyenne Connector project, Cheyenne Connector asked for authorization to build a new gas pipeline system of that capacity. The system would consist of about 70 miles of 36-inch diameter pipeline and receipt and delivery meters in Weld County. The project would cost about $213.3 million. The company also asked FERC for a blanket certificate to transport gas and authority to perform routine maintenance and minor upgrades.
The pipeline would move gas from Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and DCP Midstream LP processing plants in Weld County to the Cheyenne hub. Along with their support of the Cheyenne hub enhancement, Anadarko Energy Services and DCP Midstream Marketing have signed precedent agreements that support the pipeline project development. Tallgrass held an open season for the project in September 2017. (FERC docket CP18-102)
Rockies Express is owned by a subsidiary of Tallgrass Energy Partners LP and a subsidiary of Phillips 66. A Tallgrass Energy Partners company, NatGas Operator LLC, operates the REX system. Cheyenne Connector is a subsidiary of Tallgrass Energy Partners.
