New Natural Gas Interstate Pipeline

MONTANA, Apr 07 (Neo Natura) - Midstream energy firms Alliance Pipeline and Questar Overthrust Pipeline have entered into a memorandum of understanding to develop the Rockies Alliance Pipeline, a jointly owned interstate natural gas pipeline from Wamsutter, Wyoming, to the Emerson trading hub on the US-Canadian border in Minnesota.

The proposed 42-inch pipeline will traverse approximately 800 miles through the US states of Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota, connecting the Rockies natural gas producing region with natural gas markets in the US Midwest and central Canada.

The Rockies Alliance Pipeline (RAP) is proposing to interconnect with downstream pipelines to provide direct access to the Chicago Hub, Michigan and Dawn storage facilities, and upper Midwest and Northeastern markets in the US.

RAP reportedly provides maximum receipt flexibility to access the growing gas supplies in the Rocky Mountain region originating in the Wamsutter Hub as well as the Powder River Basin area. RAP also provides multiple delivery options and will offer zonal rates with the various interstate pipelines.

Alliance and Questar will work with prospective shippers to determine the most efficient size, route and timing of in-service date for the RAP facilities.

The Rockies Alliance project is one five pending pipeline proposals in Wyoming. Four of those would carry gas westward to California, said Brian Jeffries, executive director of the Wyoming Pipeline Authority. A sixth project, the Rockies Express, is under construction with plans to begin moving gas eastward by this summer. More than 50 per cent of Wyoming's tax and royalty revenues are based on natural gas, he noted.

The companies are targeting the fall of 2011 for opening the entire length of the pipeline, pending financing and regulatory approval.