The flow of natural gas from the Matterhorn Express Pipeline into the Williams’ Transco pipeline was reported Tuesday.
It was considered a major development for the transportation of gas out of the Permian Basin and equally a significant move for Williams, the Tulsa-based company.
The Matterhorn stretches 580 miles, moving gas from the Waha hub in West Texas to the Houston area where it connects to Transco and other lines. Bloomberg called the development a “long awaited” addition to the midstream activity.
The Matterhorn Express is the latest major effort to move the large amount of natural gas, a byproduct of fracking, out of the basin. The lack of pipeline capacitiy has been a significant challenge and as a result, natural gas prices at Waha have at times gone negative. The new pipeline is reported to be transporting 0.3 bcf a day into Transco.
The intrastate pipeline is designed to transport up to 2.5 billion cubic feet a day of natural gas to the Katy area near Houston.