The new cryogenic processing plant is expected to double the natural gas processing capacity of Meritage in the Powder River Basin
Meritage Midstream commissions Steamboat gas processing plant (Credit: Pixabay/jpenrose)
Meritage Midstream Services II, through its subsidiary Thunder Creek Gas Services, has completed commissioning of the Steamboat I processing plant in Converse County, Wyoming.
Meritage is a midstream provider in the Powder River Basin with 380MMcf/d of processing capacity, 1,600 miles (2,575km) of gas gathering pipeline, 120 miles (193km) of NGL pipeline.
In addition, the firm has 168,000 of compression horsepower, with all its assets supported by acreage dedications from its existing customers in place for more than 1 million acres.
The new cryogenic processing plant, designed to host a capacity of 200MMcf/d, is expected to double the natural gas processing capacity of Meritage in the Powder River Basin.
Meritage Midstream president Nick Thomas said: “With the completion of the Steamboat plant, Meritage is building on Thunder Creek’s successful 16-year history of owning and operating strategic gathering, treating and processing assets in the Powder River Basin.
“The Steamboat plant will improve overall product recoveries, optimize system runtimes and maintain attractive system pressures. This additional processing plant will further Meritage’s goal of providing Wyoming’s premier oil and gas producers with access to the largest and most technologically advanced natural gas and NGL midstream footprints in this prolific basin.
Meritage has also signed a multiyear gathering and processing arrangement
The company said that 47% of the rigs operating in the Powder River basin are operating on acreage committed to its Thunder Creek system.
The new Steamboat plant is located in the southern portion of the basin, on a site capable of accommodating two more 200MMcf/d cryogenic processing plants in future expansion.
The facility is said to complement the company’s existing ‘50 Buttes gas plant’, located approximately 100 miles (160km) to the north in Campbell County near Gillette, Wyoming.
Along with commissioning of the plant, Meritage has also signed a multiyear gathering and processing arrangement with a large independent oil and natural gas producer in the Powder River Basin.
Meritage CEO Steve Huckaby said: “I am so proud of the Meritage team and the company Nick and I built together. We’ve gone from a handful of employees in a small office in Golden, Colorado, working without an asset, to a company with over 100 employees based in Denver, Colorado, and Gillette, Wyoming, with pipelines spanning the entire Powder River Basin.
“It’s time for me to turn the reins over to Nick and the next generation of leadership. Nick is not just a colleague. He’s a close friend and a person with unshakable values, vision and an unparalleled skill set. I am certain that Nick and the entire team will continue to accomplish great things.”