Rockies Express Gas Pipeline

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This article is part of the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor and the Center for Media and Democracy.
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Rockies Express Gas Pipeline is an operating natural gas pipeline system.

Location

The pipeline runs from from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to eastern Ohio.

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Project Details

  • Operator: Tallgrass Energy, Phillips 66, Sempra Energy, ConocoPhillips
  • Parent Company:
  • Current capacity: 3600 Million cubic feet per day
  • Proposed capacity: Million cubic feet per day
  • Length: 1,679 miles / 2,902 km
  • Status: Operating
  • Start Year: 2009

Background

The pipeline system consists of three sections running through eight states.[1][2] It is one of the largest natural gas pipelines ever built in North America.[3][4][5]

The final section of the pipeline was completed on 12 November 2009.[6]

Technical description

The diameter of the 1,679 mile-long pipeline system varies between 36 and 42 inches (910 and 1,070 mm), being primarily 42 inches (1,100 mm).[7] The capacity of the pipeline is 3.6 billion cubic feet per day (37 billion cubic metres per annum). Itoperates at a maximum allowable operating pressure of 1,480 pounds psi. The initial cost of the pipeline was around US$5billion.[1][7][8]

REX — Entrega (Zone 1)

REX — Entrega is the 328 mile-long former Entrega Pipeline between the Meeker Hub in Rio Blanco County, Colorado, and the Cheyenne Hub in Weld County, Colorado. Construction of this pipeline was authorized in August 2005.[9] The pipeline project was acquired by Rockies Express Pipeline, LLC in February 2006. The 136 mile-long segment from the Meeker Hub to the Wamsutter Hub in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, is a 36-mile pipeline, which has been in service since February 2006. The 192 mile-long segment from the Wamsutter Hub to the Cheyenne Hub in Weld County, Colorado, is a 36-inch pipeline, which has been in service since February 2007.[10]

REX — West (Zone 2)

REX — West is a 713 mile-long 42-inch pipeline from Weld County, Colorado, to Audrain County, Missouri.[10] It has a 5 mile-long 24-inch branch connecting pipeline with the Williams Companies|Williams Energy owned Echo Springs Processing Plant.

On 31 May 2006, the Rockies Express Pipeline filed an application to construct and operate this section. The construction approval was issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on 20 April 2007.[11] The first 503 mile-long segment of this pipeline was commissioned on 27 December 2007, and the second 214 mile-long segment was commissioned on 16 May 2008. It is in full service since 16 May 2008.[9][12]

REX — East (Zone 3)

REX — East is a 683 mile-long 42-inch pipeline from Audrain County, Missouri, to Clarington, Ohio|Clarington in Monroe County, Ohio.[10] The Rockies Express Pipeline filed an application to construct and operate this section on 30 April 2007 and the FERC issued approval on 30 May 2008.[9][13]

In June 2014, REX placed the Seneca Lateral into initial service and in January 2015, the Seneca Lateral was placed into full service with the ability to move approximately 0.6 billion cubic feet per day onto the REX mainline in Zone 3. On August 1, 2015, REX placed its Zone 3 East-to-West Project into service, making Zone 3 of the mainline fully bi-directional with the ability to move approximately 1.8 billion cubic feet per day of Appalachian production to Midcontinent markets.Template:Cn

The diameter of the 1,679 mile-long pipeline system varies between 36 inches and 42 inches, being primarily 42 inches}.[9]The capacity of the pipeline is 3.6 billion cubic feet per day. The initial cost of the pipeline was around US$5 billion.[1][8][9]

REX has filed with FERC for a 0.8 billion cubic feet per day expansion of its Zone 3 east-to-west capacity, via compression additions. This project is anticipated to be completed in Q4 2016.

Partnership

The pipeline is operated by Rockies Express Pipeline, LLC, a partnership between Tallgrass Energy Partners, Phillips 66 and Sempra Energy.[14] In February 2006, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners and Sempra Energy acquired Entrega Gas Pipeline Inc., from EnCana Corporation.[7] In June 2006, ConocoPhillips acquired 24% of the project.[15] ConocoPhillips spun off the downstream part of its business in May 2012.

Environmental concerns

The pipeline project has raised some environmental concerns. Ohio officials have asked to avoid crossing the Big Darby Creek in Pickaway County, Ohio|Pickaway County and the Little Miami River in Warren County, Ohio|Warren County within Caesar Creek State Park because of the risk of harming fish and other wildlife posed by drilling the pipeline beneath the rivers.[2]

A Lawsuit by American Energy Corporation was filed against REX over the disruption of coal mine owned by AEC beneath REX. In light of past pipeline accidents, where subsiding abandoned mines have caused pipelines to fail, the wisdom of the location of that part of the REX pipeline is of concern to pipeline industry critics.

Articles and resources

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tallon, Mary (2008-07-25). "Ill. County Board Unanimously Okays Pipeline Resolution". Retrieved on 2008-07-28. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lane, Mary Beth (2008-07-06). "Rockies Express East Must Avoid Creek, Park - Ohio Officials". Retrieved on 2008-07-28. 
  3. ↑ "Kinder Morgan Energy Partners and Sempra Pipelines & Storage begin open season for Rockies Express Pipeline projects" (PDF), Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (2005-11-09). Retrieved on 2008-07-28. Archived from the original on January 3, 2009. 
  4. ↑ "Rockies Express Gets OK to Proceed with Entrega Portion of Project", Rigzone (2006-08-08). Retrieved on 2008-07-28. 
  5. ↑ Moustakis, Eileen (2007-11-16). "Dominion sets open season for Rocky Mountain natgas". Retrieved on 2008-07-28. 
  6. ↑ Smith, Christopher E. (2009-11-13). "Final leg of Rockies Express line enters service", Oil & Gas Journal, PennWell Corporation. Retrieved on 2009-11-14. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lusvardi, Chris (2008-07-21). "Rockies Express Construction Hits Union Snag". Retrieved on 2008-07-28. 
  8. ↑ Davis, Ann (2009-10-03). "Huge Pipeline Delivers Bonanza to Towns on Route". Retrieved on 2009-10-03. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 "FERC Authorizes REX-East", Downstream Today (2008-06-02). Retrieved on 2008-07-28. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "Segment of Rockies Express natgas line begins service" (2007-02-14). Retrieved on 2008-07-28. 
  11. ↑ "FERC Gives Nod to Rockies Express Pipeline", Downstream Today (2007-05-20). Retrieved on 2008-07-28. 
  12. ↑ "Rockies Express begins US section service", NHST Media Group (2008-05-19). Retrieved on 2008-07-28. 
  13. ↑ Doggett, Tom (2008-05-30). "FERC oks pipeline to move Rocky Mountain natgas". Retrieved on 2008-07-28. 
  14. ↑ Sweet, Cassandra (2008-06-16). "Sempra To Acquire Stake In Williams-TransCanada Gas Pipeline", Downstream Today. Retrieved on 2008-07-28. 
  15. ↑ "ConocoPhillips Completes Rockies Express Acquisition", Rigzone (2006-06-30). Retrieved on 2008-07-28. 

Related SourceWatch articles

External resources

External articles

Wikipedia also has an article on Rockies Express Pipeline (Rockies Express Pipeline). This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License].'

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