While the ongoing saga of the battle between Oxy and Chevron to take over Anadarko dominates the news, it would be wrong to think the rest of the industry is just standing still. Howard Energy Partners proved that on Tuesday with the announcement of its latest major project, the building of a new gathering system in central Oklahoma’s hot STACK play.
In a press release, Howard said it has entered into a deal with an unnamed “major North American oil and gas producer” which will serve as the main customer for the new pipeline system:
(HEP) today announced that it has executed an agreement with a major North American oil and gas producer to construct, own and operate a new natural gas gathering system located in the over-pressured area of the prolific STACK play. HEP’s new midstream infrastructure will be anchored by fee-based, long-term acreage dedications totaling approximately 10,000 acres in Dewey and Custer counties in central Oklahoma.
HEP will construct the gathering system to be capable of low- and high-pressure service and have an initial capacity of 110 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d). The gathering system can be expanded to support multi-well pad development by HEP’s customer, as well as other producers in the area. The initial phase of the project is expected to be operational in the third-quarter of this year.
Mike Howard, HEP Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are pleased to partner with a major operator to provide midstream services for their lean gas production. With this project, HEP will be one of the first infrastructure providers in an area that has potential for tremendous growth. We look forward to staying ahead of our customer’s development schedule and will aggressively pursue additional opportunities to provide a seamless level of service to top-tier customers in the region.”
This project marks HEP’s entrance into a sixth oil and gas development region. The company also has assets serving the Texas Gulf Coast, the Eagle Ford in South Texas, the Permian Basin in West Texas, the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, and Mexico via the Nueva Era Pipeline.
So, while all the ‘sexy’ news about the oil and gas business continues to focus on the Permian Basin and major new offshore discoveries around the globe, just remember that this industry continues to drive a lot of very significant investment, jobs and economic impact in many other parts of the country.
