Williams announces major expansion of gas gathering operations in Wyoming

 

A major expansion has been announced by Williams Partners L.P and Crestwood Equity Partners LP of their gas gathering system in Wyoming.

The Jackalope Gas Gathering System is associated with the Bucking Horse gas processing facility in the Powder River Basin Niobrara Shale play. The expansion will increase processing capacity to 345 million cubic feet a day by the end of 2019 to meet growing customer demand.

Williams considers it an “underserved growth basin” and is also increasing the current capacity of the Bucking Horse plant in Converse County, Wyoming” from 120 MMcf/d to 145 MMcf/d by the end of this year. The company plans to add a second plant on the Bucking Horse footprint by the end of 2019.

The Jackalope Gas Gathering System is owned through a 50/50 joint venture between Williams Partners and Crestwood Equity Partners. The facilities provide services under a long-term, fee-based agreement with Oklahoma City’s Chesapeake Energy Corporation that is supported by a 358,000-acre area of dedication from Chesapeake. Currently, Chesapeake has five rigs operating in the Powder River Basin.

As a result of the recent discovery of multiple productive oil-saturated formations, the Powder River Basin is experiencing a resurgence in activity as producers increase testing and development activities. Currently, there are 19 rigs operating in the Powder River Basin targeting primarily the Turner, Frontier, Mowry, Sussex and Niobrara formations. This has resulted in an increasing need for wellhead services and midstream infrastructure in the basin. Based on the increasing productivity of the Turner and Niobrara formations in the Powder River Basin and the current level of rig activity within the joint venture’s dedicated acreage, volumes are expected to approach the full capacity of the expanded Jackalope System by 2021.