Enogex, Oklahoma City, Okla., has signed agreements to acquire natural gas midstream pipeline assets with dedicated rights to gather and process production from a large acreage position located in the Granite Wash, Tonkawa and Marmaton plays of northwestern Oklahoma. The company also approved the further expansion of the new Wheeler County, Texas, processing plant and the construction of a new 200 million cubic feet per day (mmcf/d) processing plant.

The acquisition and significant expansion of the company's gathering and processing infrastructure are key moves to expand Enogex's market share in the prolific Mid-Continent production area.

Other parties in the acquisition transactions include Cordillera Energy Partners III LLC, Oxbow Midstream LLC, and West Canadian Midstream.

Details of the pending transactions include:

  • Acquisition, from Cordillera, Oxbow and West Canadian Midstream, of Roger Mills Gas Gathering LLC, which owns a gathering system that is located in Roger Mills and Ellis Counties;
  • Acquisition of an additional gas gathering system in Roger Mills County from Cordillera and Oxbow, and
  • Long-term dedication of acreage from Cordillera.

The transactions, which are expected to close in November, are subject to customary conditions to closing, including notification and waiting pursuant to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.

"We are excited about this opportunity to expand our position and customer base in this area," says Keith Mitchell, president and COO of Enogex. "These acquisitions, along with the new processing capacity and additional capital expenditures for gathering, are all part of our plan to grow our existing pipeline infrastructure to meet increasing customer capacity needs."

Mitchell said that in addition to these key acquisitions, Enogex is expanding its processing capacity in western Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle to serve the Cana Woodford play, as well as the Granite Wash, Tonkawa and Marmaton plays.

Enogex expects to begin production at its new South Canadian processing plant in western Canadian County, Okla., later this year. The new plant is rated at a total inlet capacity of 200 mmcf/d.

Enogex is expanding the capacity at its Wheeler, Texas, facility which is currently under construction, from 120 mmcf/d (expected to be available in the second quarter of 2012) to 200 mmcf/d. The expanded capacity of the Wheeler Processing Plant is expected to be available in the third quarter of 2012.

According to Mitchell, the company also just approved a new 200 mmcf/d natural gas processing plant in Custer County, Okla. The Custer County facility is expected to be online in 2013. "We are making substantial investments to better serve customers in these growing basins. Once the new processing plants are online, our capacity to process natural gas will exceed 1.5 billion cubic feet per day," Mitchell said.

Enogex has received multiple large dedications from producers in the Granite Wash and Cana Woodford plays. These dedications represent more than 1 million gross acres and are located in some of the most economic natural gas and natural gas liquids plays in the United States. Mitchell adds, "Enogex remains focused on growing its presence in these highly economic resource plays and to serving as the preferred midstream partner for producers in the region."