Regency Building $47 Million Expansion for Haynesville Shale
 The continued development of Haynesville Shale gas in eastern Texas and northern Louisiana has pushed companies to expand pipeline capabilities. Regency Energy Partners, Alinda Capital Partners and GE Energy Financial Services started construction on a $47 million pipeline extension of the Haynesville Expansion Project in North Louisiana to increase capacity on the Regency Intrastate Gas System (RIGS).
Construction of the Haynesville Expansion Project began May 1 and is on budget and on schedule to meet the planned in-service date of Dec. 31. The extension — called the Red River Lateral — will add approximately 100,000 dekatherms of capacity to the current project, bringing the total project capacity to approximately 1.2 billion cu ft per day (Bcf/d).
“The rapid development of the Haynesville Shale has accelerated our growth opportunities around the RIGS system,” says Byron Kelley, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Regency. “The Red River Lateral expands our reach deeper into the sweet spot of the Haynesville Shale and strategically positions the pipeline for further growth to meet rising producer needs. We believe this is the first of several opportunities to extend the Haynesville Expansion Project.”
The Red River Lateral will add approximately 12.5 miles of 36-in. pipe to the Haynesville Expansion Project and will reach farther southwest to the west side of the Red River into Red River Parish in Louisiana, an area considered to be one of the richest and most active in the Haynesville Shale.
The $47 million Red River Lateral will be funded by each of the partners of the joint venture that owns RIGS in accordance with their ownership percentages. Regency has a 43 percent general partnership interest in the joint venture, while Alinda and an affiliate of GE Energy
Financial Services have a 50 percent and a 7 percent general partnership interest, respectively.
“Once the project is in service, the joint venture intends to pursue debt financing for future development around the RIGS system,” Kelley added.
Construction on the 46 miles of 36-in. pipeline is mechanically complete and was commissioned in September and construction on the 75 miles of 42-in. pipeline began in late June. Construction of the Red River Lateral began in September and is projected to be in service by the end of the year.
RIGS is a 320-mile intrastate natural gas pipeline system in northern Louisiana extending from Caddo Parish to Franklin Parish. Regency Intrastate primarily transports natural gas produced in northern Louisiana for delivery to end-users, intrastate pipelines and interstate pipelines. Natural gas generally flows from west to east on the pipeline from wellhead connections or connections with other gathering systems.
 Regency Intrastate transports natural gas produced in the Elm Grove, Vernon, Sligo, Ada and Sibley fields, which are some of the largest natural gas producing fields in Louisiana. The pipeline is situated near the Haynesville Shale, Terryville Field and Woodardville Field, where new natural gas supplies are quickly being discovered. Its major pipeline interconnects include DCP Pelico, Tennessee Gas Pipeline, ANR, Columbia Gulf, Southern Natural Gas, Texas Eastern, Texas Gas Transmission, Trunkline and Mississippi River Transmission.
Regency Intrastate offers firm and interruptible transportation services for both intrastate and NGPA Section 311 customers. Intrastate service is provided to facilitate transportation of gas that is produced and consumed within the state of Louisiana. NGPA Section 311 service is provided to customers to facilitate transportation of natural gas delivered to or received from interstate pipelines. |
