MarkWest Utica finalises agreements to develop natural gas infrastructure in US

MarkWest Utica, a joint venture between MarkWest Energy Partners and The Energy and Minerals Group (EMG), has finalised agreements to construct and operate midstream infrastructure related to Gulfport Energy Corporation’s Utica Shale acreage in Eastern Ohio, US.

As per the deal, MarkWest Utica will provide gathering, processing, fractionation and marketing services in the liquids-rich corridor of the Utica, as well as develop natural-gas gathering infrastructure in Harrison, Guernsey, and Belmont counties.

The company expects to build about 60 miles of gas gathering pipelines and associated compression to handle Gulfport gas volumes by the end of 2012, and 140 miles of gathering pipelines by the first quarter of 2014.

MarkWest chairman, president and chief executive officer Frank Semple said, "The construction of this extensive set of midstream facilities is the first step of our Utica development plan, which will provide full service integrated services for our producer customers."

MarkWest Utica currently plans to process the gas at its Harrison gas processing complex, and will initially commission an interim 40 million cubic feet per day refrigeration natural gas processing plant, with an in-service deadline of the third quarter of 2012.

NGL fractionation and marketing services will be offered at the Harrison County fractionators, while a 125 million cubic feet per day cryogenic gas processing facility, Harrison I, will be operational by the first quarter of 2013.

A second processing complex in Noble County, developed by MarkWest Utica in fourth quarter of 2012 will initially see an interim 45 million cubic feet per day refrigeration natural-gas processing plant, followed by a 200 million cubic feet per day cryogenic processing plant, expected to be completed in mid-2013.

Both the Harrison and Noble processing complexes will be connected to the Harrison fractionation complex through NGL’s gathering system, which will have a C2+ fractionation capacity of 100,000 barrels per day by the first quarter of 2014.

MarkWest Liberty Midstream and MarkWest Utica will jointly own the Harrison fractionation complex.

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Image: The Harrison fractionation complex will be linked to MarkWest’s Houston fractionation complex through an expansion of its Marcellus NGL gathering system. Photo: MarkWest Energy Partners.