Construction of the approximately 500-mile Midcontinent Express Pipeline (MEP) is complete, and natural gas transportation service began August 1 on the pipeline from Delhi LA to Transcontinental Pipe Line’s Station 85 in Butler AL. Interim service had begun on the pipeline from Bennington OK to Delhi in April. MEP is a joint venture of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP and Energy Transfer Partners LP.
Kinder Morgan constructed and will operate the pipeline.
MEP has multiple receipt and delivery points along the pipeline system, which originates in southeast Oklahoma, crosses northeast Texas, northern Louisiana, and central Mississippi and ends in Alabama. Capacity is up to 1.25 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per day in Zone 1, which interconnects with the Columbia Gulf Transmission system in Delhi; and up to 0.84 Bcf per day in Zone 2, which interconnects with the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line system in Butler.
An expansion of the pipeline is expected to be completed in 2010, which will further increase MEP’s capacity to about 1.8 Bcf per day in Zone 1 and 1.2 Bcf per day in Zone 2. The pipeline’s capacity, including expansion capacity, is fully subscribed with long-term binding commitments from shippers.