Midstream Infrastructure Unblocks Shale Gas Potential

Jeannette, PA – May 7, 2014 - Recoverable reserves of natural gas in the United States have increased enormously in recent years as a result of new production technologies such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.  Previously locked into shale formations, the flow of gas from these deep rocks is increasing every day.

In some regions where shale gas production has great potential, the gas reaching the surface poses a new challenge – what to do with it?  Areas such as eastern Ohio, which lies atop the enormously rich Utica Shale, lack a midstream infrastructure, the network of pipelines and processing plants necessary to move natural gas from the wellhead to the market.  Several companies, each a leader in its field, are collaborating on the Utica East Ohio Midstream project (UEO), an integrated system of services that will result in new jobs and increase energy independence in the United States.

M3 Midstream, LLC (Momentum) is an independent energy company that provides natural gas producers with the services they require to bring the gas to market. The UEO system is a joint venture among Momentum, Access Midstream Partners and EV Energy Partners to provide customers with gas gathering, cryogenic processing, fractionation, storage of natural gas liquids (NGL), rail loading, and gas and NGL delivery options. The UEO system includes cryogenic processing plants in Columbiana and Carroll Counties, and a fractionation plant Harrison County.  Cryogenic processing plants chill the natural gas that flows from wells to around -120 degrees Fahrenheit.  At this cold temperature, valuable hydrocarbons such as butane, ethane and propane liquefy and separate from the methane that is the primary component of natural gas.  Fractionation plants further process and purify the NGL for use as petrochemical feedstock or fuel. 

Momentum and its partners chose S&B Engineers and Constructors, Ltd. to perform engineering and procurement for the UEO plants.  S&B Engineers is a privately owned, fully integrated company that provides complete engineering and construction services for customers in the refining, chemicals, and midstream industries, with a recent focus on NGL fractionation facilities. S&B Engineers combines a reputation for executing on budget and on schedule with an unwavering commitment to safety.

UEO’s Harrison fractionation facility consists of three separate but identical plants each processing 45,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) of NGL.  The plants are built around propane refrigerant compressors and depropanizer heat pump strings using efficient, reliable centrifugal compressors and support systems from Elliott Group, Jeannette Pennsylvania. For more than 100 years, Elliott has designed and built compressors and steam turbines for industrial and power markets.  Since the mid 1950’s, Elliott has been a leading compressor supplier for industrial refrigeration applications.  Elliott’s robust, reliable designs offer full API compliance and sideload blending technology that deliver exceptional efficiency and value.  Kyle Carpenter, Elliott’s Regional Director – Americas for Engineered Products pointed out, “State-of-the-art fractionation plants require significant refrigeration loads, which is technology that Elliott and S&B Engineers know very well.”

About Elliott

Elliott Group is a global leader in the design, manufacture and service of technically advanced centrifugal compressors, steam turbines, power recover expanders and axial compressors used in the petrochemical, refining, oil & gas and process industries, as well as in power applications. The company employs 2400 persons in 38 locations around the world. Elliott Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ebara Corporation, a major industrial conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Ebara employs 15,000 people and has sales of US $5 billion.