Western Midstream Partners LP has approved construction of a new cryogenic natural gas processing plant in the North Loving area of the operator’s West Texas gathering, processing, and treating complex in the Delaware basin portion of the Permian basin.
Sanctioned for development on May 22 and anticipated to be in service by yearend 2024, the proposed North Loving gas plant will have a processing capacity of 250 MMcfd, Western Midstream said.
Expansion of operations at the West Texas complex follows a rise in firm long-term processing commitments of 950 MMcfd from regional producers secured over the past year, according to the operator.
“The recent amendment [at the end of first-quarter 2023] to [Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s] natural-gas processing agreement to provide up to 300 MMcfd of additional firm processing capacity provides greater certainty regarding [our] future profitability and underpins our decision to sanction an additional plant,” said Michael Ure, Western Midstream’s president and chief executive officer.
Approval of the North Loving plant project follows Western Midstream’s first-quarter 2022 sanctioning of a new third 300-MMcfd train at the operator’s Mentone plant, also part of the West Texas complex, according to a May 10, 2022, release from the company.
In its 2022 annual report, Western Midstream said it expected to complete construction of the Mentone Train III during fourth-quarter 2023.
“Including Mentone Train III and the North Loving plant, we expect our West Texas complex to grow from today’s processing capacity of 1.54 bcfd to 2.09 bcfd by yearend 2024,” Ure said.
As of Mar. 31, 2023, Occidental holds 50.6% limited partner units in Western Midstream, according to the latter’s May 4 first-quarter 2023 review presentation to investors.
In first-quarter 2023, production in the Permian basin averaged 579,000 boe/d, up from a February midpoint forecast of 565,000 boe/d (OGJ Online, May 10, 2023).