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Whistler Pipeline – Acquisition And Service

On July 1^st 2021, the Whistler Pipeline (Austin, Texas) started its commercial service and according to a statement from the consortium which owns the pipeline, it will be adding an additional gas transportation capacity of approx. 2 billion cubic feet of incremental natural gas from the Permian Basin to the Texas Gulf Coast markets.

The Whistler pipeline is a joint venture which is owned by:

WhiteWater Midstream MPLX
Ridgemont Equity Partners
As well as a joint venture between the affiliates of West Texas Gas Inc. and Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners

It is worth mentioning here that the Whistler pipeline is still 100% owned by Whistler Pipeline LLC and the aforementioned ventures signify the consortium makeup of the Whistler Group itself and its joint venture with infrastructure and supply partners.

The Whistler pipeline is of additional importance to WhiteWater after their acquisition of Waha gas storage assets that are located in West Texas, near the gas trading hub from Enstor Gas LLC. Enstor is among the USA’s largest, independent, and most geographically diverse gas storage operators that are headquartered in Houston. It has its eight storage facilities spread strategically across the five states along with facilities in Canada and Alberta. This asset will provide storage facilities to the customers of Whistler Pipelines as they are connected to Agua Blanca’s Waha header system.

The pipeline’s operation will reduce natural gas flaring in the Permian Basin along with providing sufficient and reliable gas takeaway because of which, the delivery points in the Agua Dulce will be able to provide the shippers access to the industrial and export markets of the Gulf Coast. This also includes LNG, which is a big plus. The prospects are still developing and complete applications are yet to be decided.

WhiteWater, the Austin, Texas-based midstream company operates both, Whistler and Agua Blanca. It is also partnered with multiple private equity funds, some of which include names like:

Ridgemont Equity Partners
Denham Capital Management
First Infrastructure Capital
Ontario Power Generation Inc. Pension Plan

The stats of Whistler’s pipeline include an approximate length of around 450-miles with a 42-inch intrastate pipeline, which will ensure sufficient supply for a multitude of applications such as the provision to local private customers and export. This will be transporting natural gas from the Waha Header in the Permian Basin to Agua Dulce, Texas. This, in turn, will provide the gas direct access to export markets and South Texas. Additional connectivity to the Midland Basin is ensured by the 50-mile 36-inch (approx..) lateral. Whistler pipeline now remains operational and at its peak capacity to ensure regular and effective provision of 2 billion cubic feet of incremental natural gas from the Permian Basin to the Texas Gulf Coast markets.

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Pipeline Oil and energy

Staying on Top of Drilling Activity Trends in the Permian Basin

Oil output in the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico is supposed to go up 88,000 bbl/d to a record 5.219 million bbl/d in June, as the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced in its report on May 16. Additionally, gas productivity in the Permian Basin and the Haynesville in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas will rise to record highs of 20 Bcf/d and 15.1 Bcf/d in June, respectively. Given that this growth has been expected, recent global market changes make forecasting the output even more challenging. Learning how production will change is easier with early activity tracking, a new service recently launched by Rextag – Pad Activity Monitor. With the help of PAM, you are able to monitor well pad clearing, drilling operations, fracking crew deployment and completions with new data collected approximately every 2 days. Additionally, it cuts down activity reporting lag times by at least 98%, from 120-180 days down to just 5-8 days. In order to access reports, charts, tables, and mapping visualizations via Rextag’s Energy DataLink use a web-based application allowing users to filter, download and identify activity on a map or data table. Moreover, customers will be able to set up daily, weekly, and monthly email report notifications.

We think these GIS-related news will be important for the industry in the near future

The EIA forecasts that total output in the main U.S. shale oil basins will increase 142,000 bbl/d to 8.761 million bbl/d in June, the most since March 2020. Oil productivity in the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico is supposed to go up 88,000 bbl/d to a record 5.219 million bbl/d in June, as the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced in its report on May 16. In the largest shale gas basin, the productivity in Appalachia in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia will grow up to 35.7 Bcf/d in June, its highest since beating a record 36 Bcf/d in December 2021. Gas output in the Permian Basin and the Haynesville in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas will rise to record highs of 20 Bcf/d and 15.1 Bcf/d in June, respectively. Speaking of the Permian future output, putting hands on upcoming changes in production has recently been made easier with the new Rextag's service - Pad Activity Monitor. Thanks to satellite imagery and artificial intelligence, customers are able to monitor the oil and gas wells and are provided with near real-time activity reports related to drilling operations. However, it is noticed that productivity in the largest oil and gas basins has decreased every month since setting records of new oil well production per rig of 1,544 bbl/d in December 2020 in the Permian Basin, and new gas well production per rig of 33.3 MMcf/d in March 2021 in Appalachia.

No sooner had the crude prices soared above $100/bbl than the industry professionals believed in an incredible growth of drilling activity in North America’s largest shale patch. Analysts speculate that additional output of 500,000 barrels of oil daily would become a significant part (4%) of overall U.S. daily production. That is going to flatter oil and gasoline prices. Drilling permits in the Permian Basin are persistently growing, averaging approximately 210 at the beginning of April. Moreover, the permits trend is noticed as an all-time high as a total of 904 horizontal drilling permits were awarded last month. Nowadays, learning and analysing the current situation and predicting the future development become easier with early activity tracking, a new service recently launched by Rextag. Rextag's Pad Activity monitor (PAM) allows you to see well pad clearing, drilling operations, fracking crew deployment and completions with new data collected approximately every 2 days with the help of satellite imagery and artificial intelligence. While the increase in drilling will result in higher production, U.S. shale producers will have to overcome several hurdles including labor shortages and supply constraints.

2022 blog posts