The Colorado Interstate Gas Company’s (CIG) Raton expansion is expected to provide approximately 130 million cubic feet per day (mmcf/d) of incremental firm capacity from the Las Animas County area of the Raton Basin northward to the Cheyenne Hub.
CIG’s Raton expansion will consist of 118 miles of 16-inch pipeline, and El Paso has entered into a fixed-price contract for the purchase of steel pipe for the expansion. The expansion will increase CIG’s capacity from the Raton Basin to more than 540mmcf/d of natural gas.
The project is expected to be filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by early 2009, with construction beginning in late 2009. The in-service target is the second quarter of 2010 and it is expected to cost approximately $146 million.
Jim Cleary, El Paso’s western pipelines president, said: CIG has worked closely with Raton Basin producers to provide the necessary pipeline infrastructure to support the continued growth in production. This expansion provides producers with access to diverse markets both east and west via the Cheyenne Hub, which would potentially include access to growing demand centers in Nevada, Oregon and northern California through El Paso’s Ruby Pipeline.
