Whistler Pipeline
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Whistler Pipeline is an operating gas pipeline in Texas.[1]
Location
The pipeline runs from the Waha Header, Coyanosa to Agua Dulce, Texas USA.[2][3] The pipeline's mainline is shown below, with the Midland Lateral and Midland Lateral Expansion described later.
Mainline details
- Operator:
- Owner: Whistler Pipeline LLC
- Parent company: Stonepeak Infrastructure Fund III [25%]; MPLX LP [25%], WhiteWater Midstream [25%], West Texas Gas [25%][4]
- Capacity: 2,000 million cubic feet per day[5]
- Length: 450 miles[5]
- Diameter: 30, 42 inches[5]
- Status: Operating[1]
- Start year: 2021[1]
- Financing: US$508 million in equity from Stonepeak Infrastructure Fund, MPLX LP, WhiteWater Midstream and West Texas Gas; debt – involving bond issues and loans – of US$1.754 billion from a consortium of commercial banks,[6] with Global Infrastructure Partners purchasing US$325 million of the bonds[7]
Background
The project will provide an outlet for increased natural gas production from the Permian Basin to growing markets along the Texas Gulf Coast.[8]
In June of 2019, MPLX LP, First Infrastructure Capital-backed WhiteWater Midstream, and a joint venture of Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners and West Texas Gas Inc. reached a final investment decision to move forward with the design and construction of the project. Natural gas will be sourced from multiple upstream connections in the Midland and Delaware basins, including direct connections to Targa plants through a 27-mile, 30-in. pipeline lateral, as well as a direct connection to the Agua Blanca Pipeline—a joint venture of WhiteWater, WPX Energy, MPLX, and Targa. Commercial contracts have already been arranged for most of the pipeline's capacity. The pipeline is expected to be in service in third-quarter 2021, pending regulatory approvals.[9]
In June 2020, financial close was reached for the project to receive US$1.754 billion in debt financing via loans and the issuing of bonds from SMBC, MUFG, Mizuho, CoBank, Société Générale, Truist Bank, Landensbank Baden-Wurttemberg, Caixa Bank and Banco Sabadell. At the same time the project promoters invested an additional US$508 million in cash equity.[6] The New York-based private equity fund Global Infrastructure Partners announced it had bought US$325 million of bonds issued by the project.[7]
As with the Permian Highway Pipeline and the Gulf Coast Express Pipeline, local landowners have been challenging pipeline construction in the courts, asserting that pipeline construction has been unjustly prioritized over private property rights.[10]
According to the U.S.'s Energy Information Agency (EIA), the pipeline has been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).[5] In November 2020, MPLX's management indicated that the pipeline was on schedule to start up in the second half of 2021.[11]
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, as of April 2021 the project was under construction.[12] In July 2021, the pipeline began full commercial service, carrying Permian gas to the US Gulf Coast.[1]
Additional segments
Midland Lateral
- Operator:
- Owner: Whistler Pipeline LLC
- Parent company: Stonepeak Infrastructure Fund III [25%]; MPLX LP [25%], WhiteWater Midstream [25%], West Texas Gas [25%][4]
- Capacity: 2,000 MMcf/d[5]
- Length: 50 miles[5]
- Diameter: 30, 42 inches[5]
- Status: Operating[5]
- Start year: 2021[5]
- Cost:
- Financing:
- Associated infrastructure:
Expansion projects
Midland Lateral Expansion
- Operator:
- Owner: Whistler Pipeline LLC
- Parent company: Stonepeak Infrastructure Fund III [25%]; MPLX LP [25%], WhiteWater Midstream [25%], West Texas Gas [25%][4]
- Capacity: 2,000 MMcf/d[13]
- Length: 35 miles[13]
- Diameter: 36 inches[13]
- Status: Proposed[13]
- Start year: 2022[13]
- Cost:
- Financing:
- Associated infrastructure:
In February 2022, it was reported that Whistler Pipeline LLC was planning to extend the current 50-mile Midland Lateral an additional 35 miles, scheduled to be in service by the fourth quarter of 2022.[13]
Mainline Capacity Expansion
The capacity expansion was announced in May 2022.[14][15]
Three new compressor stations would be installed along the pipeline route. It was expected to enter service by September 2023.[16][5][17]
In August 2022 the project reached FID.[18]
- Operator: MPLX, WhiteWater[5]
- Owner: Whistler Pipeline LLC
- Parent company: Stonepeak Infrastructure Fund III [25%]; MPLX LP [25%], WhiteWater Midstream [25%], West Texas Gas [25%][4]
- Capacity: 500 MMcf/d[14]
- Length: 0 new kilometers (capacity expansion only)[14]
- Diameter:
- Status: Construction[5]
- Start year: 2023[14]
- Cost:
- Financing: FID 2022[18]
- Associated infrastructure:
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Daniel Graeber,Whistler gas pipeline in Texas starts up, Natural Gas World, Aug. 3, 2021
- ↑ Taylor, Bertie (18 November 2019). "Whistler Pipeline Launches Open Season in the Permian". RigZone. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- ↑ National Energy and Petrochemical Map , FracTracker, Feb. 28, 2020
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Asset Data, IJGlobal, accessed Aug. 27, 2020
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 Natural Gas Data, Pipeline Projects Energy Information Agency, accessed September 07, 2023
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Whistler LNG Pipeline", IJGlobal, accessed Oct. 9, 2020
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Adrian Hedden, "GLOBAL INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERS ANNOUNCES INVESTMENT IN SENIOR SECURED NOTES OF WHISTLER PIPELINE LLC", Global News Wire, Jun. 25, 2020
- ↑ Planned Pipelines, Pipeline News, accessed October 2018
- ↑ Partners reach FID on Whistler gas pipeline, Oil and Gas Journal, June 10, 2019
- ↑ Rachel Adams-Heard, A $2 Billion Gas Pipe Is Rare Flashpoint on Friendly Texas Turf, Bloomberg, Jul. 17, 2019
- ↑ Leticia Gonzales, MPLX Expecting Slower Growth, but Permian, Marcellus Volumes Fueling Optimism, Natural Gas Intelligence, Nov. 4, 2020
- ↑ U.S. natural gas pipeline projects, U.S. Energy Information Administration, Apr. 29, 2021
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 "Whistler natural gas pipeline extends Midland lateral". Oil & Gas Journal. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 "Run for the Roses - An Update on the Race to Add Permian Gas Pipeline Capacity | RBN Energy". web.archive.org. 2022-05-05. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
- ↑ "https://whitewatermidstream.com/news#:~:text=WHISTLER%20PIPELINE%20CAPACITY,Texas%20Gas%2C%20Inc". Retrieved 2022-08-05.
{{cite web}}: External link in|title= - ↑ "Pipeline projects announced to expand Permian natural gas capacity". Retrieved 2022-08-05.
- ↑ "Whistler Pipeline expansion reaches final investment decision". ir.mplx.com. Retrieved 2023-09-07.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 "https://www.bicmagazine.com/projects-expansions/midstream/whistler-pipeline-expansion-reaches-final-investment-decision/#:~:text=The%20expansion%20is%20expected%20to,South%20Texas%20and%20export%20markets". Retrieved 2022-10-14.
{{cite web}}: External link in|title=
