May 2009 Vol. 236 No. 5

Projects

KM/NGPL Plan 1,100+-Mile Chicago Express Pipeline

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners and Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (NGPL) plan to build a 1,108–mile pipeline from Arlington, WY to the Joliet hub in Illinois.

Chicago Express will include leased capacity from Rockies Express and 776 miles of new pipeline between Arlington and Harper, IA. The NGPL Express project will be built, owned and operated by NGPL and include 226 miles of new pipeline from Harper to Joliet.

The Chicago Express Pipeline will be two separate projects, but the new capacity will be operated in a seamless fashion from the perspective of shippers. The project is designed to move 1.2 Bcf/d. Receipt quantities are anticipated at Opal, WY and Meeker, CO and other existing points on the REX system. Delivery points at the market end of the pipeline will include Chicago-area LDCs and pipelines serving upper Midwest markets. One nomination will allow shippers to move gas from Meeker and/or Opal to multiple Midwest and Chicago-area delivery points.

The timeline calls for construction to start in early summer 2010. Deliveries at several Midwest interconnections (KMIGT, NNG, NBPL, and NGPL) could start by Dec. 31, 2010 while the schedule calls for project completion into the Joliet area on Oct.1, 2011.