Wolf Midstream announced it is moving forward with a Phase Three expansion of its NGL North system in Alberta. The project, estimated to cost CAD$500 MM, would see NGL fractionation capacity at the Wolf Feedstock Separation facility (WFS) near Edmonton expanded from over 90 Mb/d to roughly 110 Mb/d, and expanded capacity at the two straddle plants that feed WFS from the oil sands region.
The Wolf Recovery Facility 1 (WRF1) straddle plant, located near the Christina Lake region, will see feedgas capacity expanded to about 1.0 Bcf/d by mid-2028 with the addition of a third train. The Wolf Recovery Facility 2 (WRF2) straddle plant, which is currently under construction northwest of Fort McMurray as part of the Phase Two expansion, will now see a third train added to take its feedgas capacity to over 1.1 Bcf/d, with start-up expected in early 2027. WRF2 will process offgas from nearby oil sands upgraders. The Phase Three expansions at WRF1 and WRF2 will increase combined feedgas capacity from about 1.5 Bcf/d to over 2.1 Bcf/d. The WFS facility will get a third de-ethanizer added by early 2027, an expansion of its unit train rail loading capacity to 60 Mb/d later this year, in part to accommodate additional third party shipments of LPGs, and construction of 37 MW of cogeneration capacity that is expected to be in service in 2028.
Wolf Midstream is a private company owned by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB). Phase One of its NGL North system began operations in 2023, and involved construction of the WRF1 and WFS facilities and the reversal and repurposing of a previously idle 16-inch diluent pipeline that was once part of its Access pipeline system. Phase Two, a CAD$1 billion project announced in 2024 and expected to be fully complete in early 2027, involved construction of the WRF2 facility, a 125-km (78-mile) extension of the pipeline (see map below), and an expansion at WFS. The vast majority of NGL North's capacity will be contracted under long-term commercial agreements with investment-grade counterparties. Capacity for Phases One and Two was predominantly contracted to Alberta's PetroChemicals industry.
