On September 19, midstream developer WhiteWater Midstream set out its plans for a new natural gas pipeline, saying that Cheniere’s Corpus Christi Liquefaction LNG terminal would receive a new source of feedgas from Texas’ Permian Basin as soon as 2024.
Cheniere has partnered in a joint venture with the WhiteWater-backed Whistler Pipeline to build the ADCC Pipeline, a 42-inch, intrastate pipeline that will run 43 miles between the terminus of the Whistler Pipeline in Agua Dulce, Texas, to Corpus Christi LNG terminal on the Texas Gulf Coast, the companies said on September 19.
The ADCC line will offer an initial maximum capacity of 1.7 Bcf/d in gas supply but can be expanded to deliver up to 2.5 Bcf/d.
The ADCC project comes as midstream operators across Texas undertake a slew of new pipeline infrastructure projects to support booming demand for LNG exports from the Gulf Coast.
In May Whistler Pipeline – which is backed by MPLX, Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners and West Texas Gas, in addition to WhiteWater – signed the final investment decision on a 500 MMcf/d expansion that will bring its total capacity to 2.5 Bcf/d by late 2023. Whistler was first placed into service in 2021 and originates near the Waha pricing hub in the Permian Basin.
In addition to the Whistler expansion, midstream infrastructure projects are expected to add around 4.1 Bcf/d in takeaway capacity from the Permian Basin by 2024, with much of that gas bound for demand centers in the Gulf Coast and beyond.
WhiteWater’s greenfield Matterhorn Express Pipeline is slated to add around 2.5 Bcf/d in takeaway capacity when it enters service in the third quarter of 2024, while Kinder Morgan expects to wrap expansions on its Gulf Coast Express Pipeline and Permian Highway Pipeline assets by the end of next year.
Demand for feedgas at US LNG terminals has recently cooled from a pre-summer frenzy, due in part to a lingering outage at the 15 million mt/year Freeport LNG export terminal. But LNG feedgas demand at US terminals has still averaged a record-high of 11.8 Bcf/d thus far in 2022, according to data from S&P Global Commodity Insights, and is likely to expand even further in coming years as companies add liquefaction capacity along the Gulf Coast.
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