MarkWest, EMG Sign Utica Stabilisation Deal with Gulfport

MarkWest Energy Partners and The Energy & Minerals Group, announced the execution of definitive agreements with Gulfport Energy to provide stabilization services and potential gathering services for condensate produced within an area that includes Belmont, Harrison, Guernsey, Noble, and Monroe counties, Ohio.

Gulfport is rapidly developing their acreage within the wet gas, retrograde condensate and oil windows of the emerging Utica Shale and currently has over 147,000 net acres under lease. In conjunction with these agreements, MarkWest and EMG will form Ohio Condensate Company, a new joint venture related to the development of industry-leading facilities and services to support the rapid growth of condensate production occurring in the liquids-rich areas of the Utica Shale. Discussions regarding the joint venture’s condensate solutions are also underway with numerous other Utica producers.

Initial infrastructure development will consist of a new condensate stabilization facility, with associated logistics and storage terminal capabilities to be constructed in Harrison County, Ohio and placed in service by the third quarter of 2014. The facility will have initial stabilization capacity of 23,000 barrels per day and an immediate 30,000 Bbl/d expansion is anticipated. The facility will be co-located and fully integrated with condensate storage, and a truck and rail loading terminal that will be constructed and operated by a subsidiary of Toledo, Ohio-based Midwest Terminals and will exclusively serve the joint venture. Raw condensate will be delivered by truck and stabilized at the facility. Once stabilized, the condensate will be transported by truck and rail to local refinery markets and Canadian export markets. In the future, a condensate gathering system and regional pipelines may be constructed to support additional deliveries to the facility. Furthermore, the facility will serve as the origin for MPLX LP’s previously announced Cornerstone Pipeline, a condensate pipeline project that will terminate near Canton, OH and is scheduled to become operational by late 2016.

MarkWest and EMG are currently developing the largest fully integrated midstream solution in the Utica Shale, which includes hundreds of miles of gas and natural gas liquids gathering pipeline, up to three large-scale complexes totaling more than 1 billion cubic feet of processing capacity and 138,000 Bbl/d of ethane and heavier fractionation capacity.

“We are very excited to continue expanding our relationship with Gulfport Energy and provide a critical new service offering for the stabilization and marketing of condensate. Together with EMG, the formation of an integrated condensate solution is a significant milestone in our ongoing development of full-service midstream infrastructure in the Utica Shale and will provide producers with the ability to capture additional uplift from their growing liquids production,” stated Frank Semple, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of MarkWest. “We believe the increased use of condensate as a feedstock for refineries, and the growing demand from Canada for diluent, will support local, regional and international consumption of Utica condensate.”

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LNG World News Staff, December 24, 2013; Image: MarkWest