Taproot Rockies Midstream LLC, an affiliate of Taproot Energy Partners LLC, Denver, executed a long-term acreage dedication for crude oil transportation from Bonanza Creek Energy Operating Co. LLC.
In conjunction with Bonanza Creek’s dedication of nearly 70,000 gross acres (subject to Bonanza Creek’s preexisting dedications), Taproot will extend its existing multiservice midstream system (the Baja system) some 35 miles south (the Rattlesnake extension) to transport Bonanza Creek’s crude oil to Taproot’s Baja system for redelivery at Tallgrass Energy Partners’ Buckingham terminal, with ultimate delivery to Cushing. Delivery to the Buckingham terminal is expected to provide shipper customers premium pricing for “Niobrara–spec” crude oil barrels (42° gravity and below), the company said. The in-service date for the expansion project is expected in second-quarter 2020.
The agreement increases the total acreage dedicated to Taproot’s Baja system to nearly 175,000 gross acres. In addition to the Rattlesnake extension, Taproot intends to construct a truck unloading and storage facility to provide customers with a crude oil delivery point in Weld County, Colo.
The Rattlesnake extension gives the opportunity to become the first independent pipeline solution in the northeast Wattenberg area to provide producers with direct pipeline access to the Buckingham terminal, said Kevin Sullivan, chief executive officer of Taproot.