Brazos Midstream to expand Midland Basin gas-gathering system

Permian Basin midstream operator Brazos Midstream announced this week that it was “significantly” expanding its natural gas gathering and processing system in the Permian’s Midland sub-basin.

There are several steps that Brazos is taking as part of the expansion. The company said it had commissioned the 300mn cubic foot (8.5mn cubic metre) per day Sundance II cryogenic gas processing facility, which will be the largest cryogenic plant to be built by Brazos to date as well as adding extra capacity at the Sundance processing complex.

In addition, Brazos has begun construction on a new processing complex in Texas’ Glasscock County. This complex will begin with the Cassidy I cryogenic gas-processing facility, which will also have a capacity of 300 mmcf per day. Cassidy I is due to be completed by the end of 2026 and is expected to increase Brazos’ total gas-processing capacity in the Midland Basin to 800 mmcf (22.7 mcm) per day. The company added that it had has secured grid power and other related infrastructure, which it expects to help it to pursue “timely and capital efficient” expansion opportunities at the Cassidy complex. This has been done in anticipation of additional processing demand driven by the drilling programmes being pursued by Brazos’ upstream customers.

On top of this, Brazos said it was also extending its gathering system with over 70 miles (113 km) of high-pressure gas-gathering pipeline. This pipeline is currently under construction and expected to provide incremental capacity to constrained areas in Texas’ Reagan, Glasscock, Midland and Upton counties. This expansion is due to be completed in mid-2026, increasing Brazos’ Midland Basin footprint to roughly 525 miles (845 km) of gas-gathering pipelines and 16 compressor stations. The company said its Midland business is underpinned by long-term acreage dedications covering more than 375,000 acres (1,518 square km) from Permian producers that it described as “top-tier” and already in full-scale development.

This comes about a week after the company’s Brazos Midland subsidiary completed an expansion of its senior credit facility to $1.1bn from $225mn in commitments from a syndicate of banks. Brazos said last week that these funds would support the ongoing expansion of its gas-gathering and processing system throughout the Midland Basin.

“With this newly expanded bank facility, along with the continued support of our equity partners, Brazos has fully secured the capital sources needed to complete the aggressive buildout of our Midland business as we continue to generate material growth in operating cash flow,” Brazos’ chief financial officer, William Butler, said last week, in the announcement on the expanded credit facility.

The latest announcement on the company’s expansion plans illustrates that it has wasted no time in moving forward with its expansion plans.