Bluegrass Pipeline LLC, a joint venture between Williams and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP (Boardwalk), announced that it will be commencing a binding Open Season to determine industry commitments to natural gas liquids (NGLs) transportation capacity from the Marcellus and Utica shale plays to the petrochemical and export complex on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The Open Season will begin on Oct. 29, 2013 at 8 a.m. CDT and conclude on Dec. 16, 2013 at 5 p.m. CST.

Phase one of Bluegrass Pipeline is being designed to provide customers with 200,000 barrels per day of mixed NGLs take-away capacity in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Phase two would increase capacity to 400,000 barrels per day to meet market demand, primarily by adding additional liquids pumping capacity. The pipeline would deliver mixed NGLs from these producing areas to proposed new fractionation and storage facilities that would have connectivity to petrochemical facilities and product pipelines along the coasts of Louisiana and Texas. In addition to these domestic markets, the fractionation and storage facilities are expected to have connectivity to a proposed new liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) export terminal that, based on current market conditions, would offer producers an attractive option for exporting propane and butane, which represent approximately 30 percent of the average NGL barrel.

Tags: Bluegrass Pipeline LLC