Kinder Morgan begins open season in Utica region

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP launched a binding open season to determine commitments for the Utica To Ontario Pipeline Access (UTOPIA) project, which will provide opportunities to transport ethane and ethane-propane mixtures from the Utica Shale.

According to a press release, Kinder Morgan’s UTOPIA project entails the development, construction, ownership and operation of a 240-mile, 12-inch-diameter pipeline from Harrison County, Ohio, to Kinder Morgan’s Cochin Pipeline near Riga, Mich. In Michigan, Kinder Morgan would move product eastward to Windsor, Ontario, Canada. UTOPIA would transport previously refined or fractionated natural gas liquids, including propane and ethane, with an initial capacity of 50,000 barrels per day.

Kinder Morgan expects the new pipeline to be in service by early 2018, depending on a successful open season and timely receipt of necessary permitting and regulatory approvals.