Gas plant in Avalon shale to restart

May 10, 2011
Nuevo Midstream LLC, Houston, will recommission its refrigerated Joule-Thomson processing and fractionator near Orla, Tex., in far West Texas.

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, May 10
-- Nuevo Midstream LLC, Houston, will recommission its refrigerated Joule-Thomson processing and fractionator near Orla, Tex., in far West Texas.

The move is prompted, said the company, by the recent addition of a 6,500-acres in the Avalon shale trend, which gives the company “sufficient acreage, volume, and well commitments” to support the move.

Nuevo Midstream will also upgrade its Ramsey gas gathering system with increased treating and compression, 11 miles of 8-in. pipeline, and an interconnect with an Enterprise Products pipeline 9 miles south of the plant, bringing the total system to 141 miles of high and low-pressure pipeline.

The gathering system crosses through Eddy County in southeast New Mexico and Culberson, Loving, and Reeves counties in West Texas and currently serves 38 natural gas producers, said the announcement. The company expects to complete the plant recommissioning and expansions to the Ramsey gathering system by August.

The second phase of Nuevo’s expansion plan anticipates the addition of 30-50 MMcfd of cryogenic processing at the Reeves County plant coming on line in October. Drilling projections from numerous existing and potential customers, said the company, will support further system extensions and capacity upgrades.

Nuevo Midstream LLC is a midstream company formed from private-equity firm EnCap Flatrock Midstream, Torch Energy Advisors Inc., and Petroleum Fuels Co. Inc.