Kinder Morgan has taken steps to increase the capacity of its Permian Highway Pipeline (PHP), announcing a binding open season for its PHP Expansion Project. Targeting an in-service date of October 1, 2023, the project will involve compression expansions to increase natural gas deliveries from the Waha area to multiple mainline connections, Katy, Texas, and various US Gulf Coast markets.
Upon achieving a final investment decision, the project will increase the pipeline’s capacity by nearly 650 MMcf/d (18.4 x 106 m3/d). A foundation shipper has already executed long-term binding transportation agreements for half of this expansion capacity.
The PHP began service in 2020 (See “The Permian Highway Pipeline Is Now 97% Mechanically Complete,” December 2020 Gas Compression Magazine, p. 12). The 430-mile (692-km) pipeline has a capacity of 2.1 Bcf/d (59.4 x 106 m3/d).
Anticipating the ongoing rise of gas production out of the Permian Basin, Kinder Morgan initially unveiled its plans to build the PHP in June 2018. The PHP was a direct response to the production of natural gas outpacing the region’s daily takeaway capacity.
The PHP is a significant infrastructure development for two reasons. The first is that is has proven to be a useful tool in reducing flaring in the Permian Basin by transporting would-be flared gas out of the region to export terminals along the Gulf Coast. The second is that much of the pipeline’s volume is ultimately exported overseas in the form of liquefied natural gas, providing continued market strength for the US natural gas industry and reliable fuel deliveries to Europe in the wake of the ongoing Russian conflict.
