Enbridge is embarking on yet another expansion project.
Just weeks after agreeing to buy Salt Creek Midstream’s Delaware Basin crude oil gathering business for $600 million, Enbridge has launched a non-binding open season for the proposed West Texas Express Pipeline project.
The non-binding open season will close at 5 p.m. on Sept. 25.
The project would be a major new natural gas pipeline designed to transport additional Permian Basin supply west from the Waha area to markets in and around El Paso.
The pipeline is expected to include more than 150 miles of new pipe, with a diameter of up to 42 inches and initial transportation capacity of up to 2 billion cubic feet per day. The pipeline would extend from receipt points near the Waha hub to delivery points in the greater El Paso area. The project could also include lateral pipelines serving Hudspeth County and delivery points at the U.S.-Mexico border. The pipeline could connect with existing infrastructure based on customer interest identified during the open season.
The proposal responds to growing demand for reliable natural gas supplies from proposed power plants, utilities, industrial customers and data centers across West Texas and downstream markets in Mexico, New Mexico and Arizona.
Final capacity, routing, receipt and delivery points, and facility design will be informed by market interest. Subject to securing sufficient commercial support and obtaining required approvals, the project is targeting an in-service date in the fourth quarter of 2029.
“West Texas Express would create a new, large-scale pathway connecting abundant Permian natural gas with growing markets to the west,” Caitlin Tessin, managing vice president of Gulf Coast business development at Enbridge, said in a statement.
The project would add westbound takeaway capacity from the Permian Basin while increasing access to Waha-area natural gas supplies for customers in El Paso and downstream markets. It would also complement Enbridge’s extensive North American natural gas network, which transports approximately 20% of the natural gas consumed in the United States.