MarkWest Energy Partners LP, Denver, and Energy & Minerals Group (EMG), Houston, will add fractionation capacity at their Hopedale complex in Harrison County, Ohio, to handle increasing NGL production from the Utica and Marcellus shales “under newly contracted commitments from numerous producers,” the companies said.
The Hopedale complex is jointly owned by a subsidiary of MarkWest and MarkWest Utica EMG LLC, a joint venture of MarkWest and EMG. The expansion will double C3+ fractionation capacity at Hopedale to 120,000 b/d and be operating in first-quarter 2015 (OGJ, June 2, 2014, p. 72).
Once the Hopedale expansion is complete, MarkWest will operate 300,000 b/d of C2+ fractionation capacity at four complexes in the US Northeast. The company also has an NGL gathering pipeline connecting Hopedale to its NGL infrastructure in the Marcellus.
NGL takeaway to the Gulf Coast and international markets will complement existing fractionation, the companies said, providing additional market outlets.