Deepwater Holdings LLC announced Thursday that natural gas production has begun flowing through its new East Breaks Gathering System in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. This pipeline was installed in water depths ranging from 440 ft to 4,700 ft, which Deepwater Holdings claims makes it the world's deepest gas export pipeline.
Deepwater Holdings is a joint venture equally owned by subsidiaries of Houston-based El Paso Energy Partners LP and Coastal Corp.'s ANR Pipeline Co.
The 85-mile, 20-in. system, which has a design capacity of more than 400 MMcfd of gas, is transporting gas from a deep draft caisson vessel platform on Alaminos Canyon Block 25 to High Island Block A-573, where it ties into Deepwater Holdings' High Island Offshore System. From there, it will be transported to tie into ANR's pipeline system at West Cameron Block 167, and eventually to Coastal Corp.'s 1.2 bcf/day Eunice gas processing and fractionation plant in Louisiana.
The gas comes from the Hoover-Diana project on East Breaks 945, 989, 946, and 988, which is tied back subsea to the DDCV on Alaminos Canyon 25. The Hoover-Diana project is owned by ExxonMobil Corp., 66.7%, and BP Amoco PLC, 33.3%.
Jeffrey A. Connelly, senior vice-president of natural gas at Houston-based Coastal, said, "The upper Midwest market for power generation and storage will benefit from this new supply choice.''
Coastal and El Paso Energy Corp. announced in January a definitive agreement to merge after completion of regulatory reviews (OGJ, Jan. 24, 2000, p. 23).