Rockies
Chipeta Processing LLC and the Greater Natural Buttes Gas Gathering System
Overview
Western Gas Partners, LP is the managing member of Chipeta Processing LLC, a limited liability company owned by WES (75%), and Ute Energy Midstream Holdings LLC (25%). The Chipeta complex includes a natural gas processing plant with three processing trains, the Natural Buttes plant, and a 100% WES-owned 17-mile NGL pipeline connecting the Chipeta plant to a third-party pipeline. Chipeta is connected to both Anadarko's Natural Buttes gathering system and to the Three Rivers gathering system owned by Ute Energy and a third-party.
Chipeta provides gas processing, marketing and redelivery services at the state-of-the-art processing plant to producers throughout the Uinta Basin. Chipeta is ideally positioned to process growing gas volumes in the Uinta Basin and recently completed the addition of a 300 MMcf/d cryogenic plant which increases the total processing capacity to 970 MMcf/d.
The Chipeta plant delivers NGLs through WES’s 17-mile pipeline to the Mid-America Pipeline, which provides transportation through the Seminole pipeline in West Texas and ultimately to the NGL markets at Mont Belvieu, Texas and the Texas Gulf Coast.
Anadarko is the largest customer at the Chipeta plant with approximately 94% of the throughput for the year ended December 31, 2011. The balance of throughput at the plant during 2011 was from three third-party customers.
Operating Data
Market Access
| Colorado Interstate Gas Company (CIG) (Kinder Morgan) |
| Local Markets - NGLs (Trucks) |
| Mid-America Pipeline (MAPL) - NGLs (Enterprise) |
| Questar Pipeline Company (QPC) |
| Wyoming Interstate Company (WIC) (Kinder Morgan) |
Operating Data - Chipeta Processing
| 2011 Average Volume |
493 MMcf/d |
| Capacity (Train 1 - Refrigeration) |
240 MMcf/d |
| Capacity (Train 2 - Cryogenic) |
250 MMcf/d |
| Capacity (Train 3 - Cryogenic) |
300 MMcf/d |
| Capacity (Natural Buttes - Refrigeration) |
180 MMcf/d |
Operating Data - NGL Pipeline
| 2011 Average Volume |
22,600 Bbls/d |
| Capacity |
40,000 Bbls/d |
| Transport Line (6" & 8") |
17 Miles |
Greater Natural Buttes Gas Gathering System
Overview
Anadarko uses assets, capacity and operational experience in the Greater Natural Buttes gas gathering system (“GNB”) to effectively move gas from the field to the marketplace in the Uinta Basin. GNB is a low-pressure gathering and compression system, operating at 70 psig in the low and 350 psig in the intermediate stages, moving natural gas from field compressor stations to the Chipeta plant for processing. Anadarko is a safety-based operational leader in the Uinta Basin and utilizes electric-driven compression and centralized zero-emission dehydration units to increase on line performance while minimizing emissions to provide capacity for growing Uinta Basin natural gas volumes.
Operating Data
Market Access
| Colorado Interstate Gas Company (CIG) (Kinder Morgan) |
| Questar Pipeline Company (QPC) |
| Wyoming Interstate Company (WIC) (Kinder Morgan) |
Operating Data - Chipeta Processing
| 2011 Average Volume |
499 MMcf/d |
| Gathering Lines |
917 Miles |
| Gas Compression (Horsepower) |
144,397 |
| Compressors |
82 |