WhiteWater to boost capacity on Eiger Express gas pipeline out of US’ Permian Basin

WhiteWater announced on November 24 that it was expanding the capacity of the Eiger Express gas pipeline’s mainline.

According to the announcement, the pipeline’s capacity will be expanded from the previously planned 2.5bn cubic feet (70.8mn cubic metres) per day of gas to 3.7 bcf (104.8 mcm) per day. This comes after WhiteWater secured additional firm transportation agreements for the project.

In order to accommodate the additional capacity, Eiger Express is also being upsized from a 42-inch (1,067-mm) diameter pipeline to a 48-inch (1,219-mm) diameter pipeline, with incremental compression also being installed.

The capacity increase comes not long after WhiteWater and its partners made a final investment decision (FID) on Eiger Express in late August.

The pipeline is owned 70% by the Matterhorn joint venture, 15% by ONEOK (OKE) and 15% by MPLX (MPLX). The Matterhorn joint venture, in turn, is owned 65% by WhiteWater, 15% by ONEOK, 10% by MPLX and 10% by Enbridge (ENB). ONEOK’s and MPLX’s direct ownership interests in the Eiger Express joint venture are incremental to their ownership through the Matterhorn joint venture, according to the FID announcement. This results in 25.5% ownership in the pipeline for ONEOK and 22% for MPLX.

WhiteWater’s stake in the Matterhorn joint venture is owned by FIC and I Squared Capital.

Eiger Express will cover a distance of 450 miles (724 km), carrying gas from the Permian Basin in West Texas to the Katy area of Texas. Supply for the pipeline will be sourced from multiple connections in the Permian Basin, including gas processing facilities in the Midland sub-basin and from the Delaware sub-basin via the Agua Blanca Pipeline, which is owned by WhiteWater, Enbridge and MPLX.

WhiteWater will build and operate the pipeline, which is expected to be in service in mid-2028. In its latest announcement, WhiteWater noted that the capacity increase was not expected to affect the in-service date.