On Friday, March 25, 2016, Rockies Express posted a notice related to planned compressor station tie-in work in July 2016 related to the REX Zone 3 Capacity Enhancement project. The notice text notes that pipeline segments between REX’s ANR-Shelby delivery point (PIN 44416) and the Columbia Gas-Fairfield delivery point (PIN 44422) will be unavailable, as the three new compressors from the project will be tied into the line as part of construction. These new compressors – Columbus, Washington Court House and St. Paul – will not be operational at the end of the closure, but will be able to come online later in the year, along with additional horsepower at the existing Chandlersville station. The 800 MMcf/d Expansion is currently expected to come online as a lump increase in late 2016, bringing the East to West capacity of REX from 1.8 Bcf/d to 2.6 Bcf/d.
Pipeline operations in Zone 3 will have severe restrictions between Tuesday, July 19 and Monday, July 25, 2016:
- Gas received west of ANR Shelby delivery point (e.g. Rockies-sourced) will be physically unable to travel farther east than the ANR Shelby point, and
- Gas received east of the Columbia Gas-Fairfield (e.g. from Clarington and Seneca) will be unable to travel further west than Columbia Gas-Fairfield.
This will heavily, if not entirely, restrict East to West flow capacity. The Columbia Gas-Fairfield interconnect between REX and Columbia Gas has an operational capacity of 280 MMcf/d, but flows haven’t approached capacity since mid-May 2015.
Genscape expects that, as demonstrated in the early March 2016 force majeure, some production from eastern Ohio will reroute onto nearby pipelines, but most is expected to shut-in due to lack of outlet.
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