U.S. Natural Gas Processing Projects Proceed to Roll Out

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In its recently released triennial report Natural Gas Processing Plant Survey, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that natural gas processing capacity and throughput in the lower 48 states increased about 5% from 2014 through 2017. This number has only continued accelerating. In 2018, Industrial Info tracked more than 45 expansion, upgrade and grassroot projects at natural gas processing plants that were completed in the U.S., seeing an increase in planned processing project completions this year.

The EIA's report states that at the end of 2017, 510 natural gas processing plants were active in the lower 48 states, with a processing capacity of 80.8 billion cubic feet per day, although the average processing utilization was only about 66%. In the period of the study, the largest areas of throughput increases were in states such as Texas, West Virginia and North Dakota, where shale drilling significantly increased.

Click on the image at right for an EIA chart showing natural gas processing throughput and capacity changes in 2014-17.

This trend continues to hold true in regard to the locations of active projects being tracked by Industrial Info. Perhaps the busiest location for natural gas processing activity is Mont Belvieu, Texas, where Industrial Info is tracking 10 active capital processing projects, valued at more than $4 billion. Among the busiest companies in the region is Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) (Houston, Texas), which has two trains set to come online in the near future. Trains 10 and 11 at the company's Mont Belvieu complex will each add 150,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) of fractionation capacity, bringing the plant's total capacity to 1.1 million BBL/d. Train 10 is set to come online this year, with Train 11 following in early 2020. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on Train 10 and Train 11.

Oklahoma has also seen an uptick in gas processing capacity and throughput. Among the processing projects set to be completed this year in the state is EnLink Midstream LLC's (NYSE:ENLC) (Dallas, Texas) Thunderbird grassroot cryogenic processing plant near Kingfisher. The plant will process gas from Oklahoma's STACK play and will have a processing capacity of 200 million cubic feet per day. Construction began last summer, with Kahuna Ventures LLC (Westminster, Colorado) providing engineering, procurement and construction (EPC). The project is expected to be completed next quarter. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Other Oklahoma projects include Tall Oak MidCon LLC's (Edmond, Oklahoma) addition of a third processing train at its facility near Carmen. The 200 million-cubic-foot-per-day train will bring the facility's total processing capacity to 500 million cubic feet per day. Construction is expected to begin soon and wrap up before the end of the year. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

The EIA also mentioned West Virginia as a place of growing processing capacity. Among the most active companies in the region is MarkWest Energy Partners LP, a subsidiary of MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX) (Findlay, Ohio). One of the company's active projects in the state is the Smithburg grassroot cryogenic processing plant near New Milton. Construction on the 200 million-cubic foot-per-day plant is set to both kick off and be completed this year. Doss Enterprises (Jane Lew, West Virginia) is the contractor on the project, which has an estimated total investment value of $150 million. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report and February 8, 2019, article - MPLX, MarkWest Progress With Natural Gas Processing Buildout.

In North Dakota, ONEOK Incorporated (NYSE:OKE) (Tulsa, Oklahoma) is underway with construction on its Demicks Lake natural gas processing plant near Watford City. Construction on the $200 million project began in the fourth quarter of last year, with Optimized Process Designs LLC (Katy, Texas) providing EPC. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report and February 28, 2019, article - ONEOK Capex to Reach Peak in 2019.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.