Tallgrass Energy will launch an open season for additional east-to-west capacity on Rockies Express pipeline (Rex) zone 3.
"We will be launching an open season for approximately 150mn cf/d (4.25mn m³/d) of additional space on Rex from east-to-west in zone 3 as a part of the capacity enhancement project," Tallgrass chief operating William Moler said during the fourth quarter earnings call.
The capacity will be available in May, Moler said.
Tallgrass on 5 January announced the completion and full in-service of the final phase of Rex zone 3 capacity enhancement project adding 800mn cf/d of westbound capacity. Rex zone 3 can now ship 2.6 Bcf/d of Marcellus and Utica shale gas to high-demand markets in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
All of that 2.6 Bcf/d zone 3 capacity is fully contracted under long-term basis. The 150mn cf/d will be in excess of the current contracted capacity, Moler said.
Additional capacity could become available as Rex continues to refine and operate the facilities in zone 3. Meanwhile, the 150mn cf/d to be offered will represent the vast majority of any expected additional capacity, Moler said.
Rex is a 1,698-mile (2,733 km), 1.8 Bcf/d pipeline that stretches from northwestern Colorado and Wyoming to eastern Ohio. The pipeline initially moved gas production from the Rockies to markets in the midcontinent and the northeast. It later established bidirectional service on zone 3 to move low-cost gas from the Appalachia shales to the midcontinent.
