Rockies Express Gets OK to Proceed with Entrega Portion of Project

Intelligence Press

Rockies Express Pipeline LLC, a partnership of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, Sempra Pipelines & Storage and ConocoPhillips, was given the FERC go-ahead Friday to begin construction on the second segment of Phase I of the Entrega Pipeline Project, which has been integrated into the mammoth 1,663-mile Rockies Express project and will comprise the western end of the system.

The second segment includes 192 miles of 42-inch diameter pipeline that would extend the Entrega system from Wamsutter through Carbon, Albany and Laramie Counties, WY, and Larimer County, CO, to the Cheyenne Hub, where it would interconnect with multiple downstream pipelines, including the proposed Rockies Express Pipeline. The second segment is expected to be ready for service in January 2007.

The first segment -- a 136-mile, 36-inch diameter pipeline that extends from Meeker Hub in Rio Blanco County, CO, to Wamsutter in Sweetwater County, WY -- has been completed and went into service in February. That portion of the line added 750 MMcf/d of firm capacity to the region, significantly boosting gas deliveries out of the Piceance Basin.

Entrega Gas Pipeline Inc., formerly a subsidiary of EnCana Corp., built the first segment of the pipeline. However, Kinder Morgan and Sempra, which purchased Entrega earlier this year, will construct the second portion of the system. In addition to this part of the project, the Rockies Express line will consist of a 713-mile REX-West segment extending from the Cheyenne Hub to Audrain County, MO, and a REX-East portion that would run from Audrain County to Clarington, OH. Kinder Morgan will operate the entire Rockies Express system, which would carry as much as 2 Bcf/d to Midwest and Northeast markets.

When completed, the $4 billion pipeline would be the largest constructed in the United States in 20 years. Assuming all regulatory approvals and additional shipper commitments are received, most of the Rockies Express project is expected to be in service in early 2008, according to Kinder Morgan.

Phase II of the Entrega project would add compression, boosting firm capacity to 1.5 Bcf/d in January 2008. It includes adding 15,400 horsepower (hp)at the Meeker Hub Compressor Station, 30,000 hp at the Bighole Compressor Station in Moffat County, CO, and 20,620 hp at the Wamsutter Compressor Station.

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