Tall Oak to build Arkoma pipeline

Oklahoma’s newest oil and natural gas hot spot is growing again with another natural gas pipeline from Edmond-based Tall Oak Midstream III.

The proposed 80-mile Arkoma Residue Capacity pipeline is designed to boost oil and natural gas production in southeast Oklahoma’s Arkoma Basin by providing a route to market for natural gas produced in the area.

“This pipeline would provide the ability to handle growth,” said Carlos Evans, Tall Oak’s chief commercial officer. “Without this project, there’s extremely limited residue takeaway capacity. A lot of the pipes are at 90 percent takeaway capacity, and we’re seeing pipelines charging max rates. This project will provide producers and processors the ability to meet forecasted growth volumes.”

Gas to market

The pipeline would carry dry natural gas, also known as residue gas, from Tall Oak’s previously announced $400 million Panther Creek processing plant in Hughes County to near Bennington, where it will connect with an existing interstate pipeline system to carry the natural gas to market, including storage and export facilities along the Gulf Coast.

The new pipeline also would connect to Oklahoma City-based Enable Midstream Partners LP’s existing pipeline system in the STACK and SCOOP fields in central and northwestern Oklahoma, relieving pressure on Enable’s system, Evans said.

While Tall Oak executives announced plans for their new Arkoma Basin

project on Tuesday, details have not yet been determined.

Tall Oak launched a 30-day open season to evaluate demand for the pipeline. Depending on the results of the open season, the pipeline is expected to have a capacity of between 300 million and 1 billion cubic feet per day and cost between $100 million and $300 million, Evans said.

Construction on the pipeline is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2019 and is expected online by the end of 2019.

The pipeline will support Tall Oak’s Panther Creek processing plant, which is designed to handle 200 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and

is expected online by the first quarter of 2019.

Tuesday’s announcement is the latest in a string of infrastructure projects for the Arkoma Basin over the past year. Tall Oak, Oklahoma Citybased Valiant Midstream and Markwest Energy Partners together have announced plans for more than $1 billion in processing plants and pipeline projects throughout the area.

“There’s a lot of excitement coming together in the last 12 months or so,” Evans said. “Producers are starting to drill wells, and we’re connecting them to our system and seeing the results. They’re continually performing better than expected. That’s an excellent problem to have, but it also drives the need for additional infrastructure.”