Natural gas liquids pipelines begin service to Gulf Coast

Fuel Fix ^ | June 17, 2013 | Jeannie Kever

[thackney]

Two natural gas liquids pipelines covering more than 1,500 miles have begun service to the Gulf Coast.

The pipelines, owned in partnership by DCP Midstream, Phillips 66 and Spectra Energy, carry natural gas liquids from the Permian Basin, the Eagle Ford Shale and the mid-continent to the coast.

The Sand Hills Pipeline is a 720-mile pipeline from the Permian Basin and the Eagle Ford Shale.

The 800-mile Southern Hills Pipeline stretches from the mid-continent to the hub at Mont Belvieu.

Lisa Newkirk, a spokeswoman for DCP Midstream, declined to say where in the mid-continent the pipeline originates but said the companies expect it will expand over time.

DCP Midstream: Company ramping up infrastructure for natural gas

Both pipelines have been in service for several months but the companies only announced Monday that service had begun.

Wouter van Kempen, chairman, president and CEO of DCP Midstream, said the pipelines provide a solution for critical transportation needs in key producing regions.

“DCP Midstream will have an integrated NGL pipeline system, consisting of Sand Hills and Southern Hills as well as our interests in the Front Range and Texas Express pipelines, that connect our gathering and processing systems located in most of the major … shale plays to growing Gulf Coast markets,” he said in a written statement.

The Sand Hills Pipeline began taking flows in the fourth quarter of 2012. It will ramp up to a capacity of more than 200,000 barrels per day after completion of initial pump stations, according to the announcement.

Further capacity increases could raise that to 350,000 barrels per day, the announcement said.

The Southern Hills Pipeline began taking flows in the first quarter of 2013. It will ramp up to a capacity of 175,000 barrels per day after planned pump stations are completed.

Newkirk said it will take several years to reach full volume.

[thackney]

Note: This is Natural Gas Liquids (NGL, ethane, propane, etc), not to be confused with Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) which is methane cooled down to -260°F

[cloudmountain]

I didn't know the difference. My husband worked at an LNG plant in Saudi Arabia. He had worked for PG&E in that field.
Thanks for the info.

[count-your-change]

Which means they won’t be transported by truck or rail. More pipelines, please

[strongbow]

Great, I bet on Williams Petroleum and their stock as dipped. Almost bought some DCP.

[X-spurt]

Well now maybe these PLs going to Mt. Belvieu propane will filler her up enough to give us a decent propane end-user price break.

[NickFlooding]

We need more pipelines to carry it to Canada where NGL’s will be used as a dilutant for tar sands crude. Then we need the XL pipeline to carry the diluted tar sands crude to the Gulf Coast refineries.