NGL production in Western Canada hit an all-time high in 2025 and looks to be headed even higher in the years ahead. Major midstream players have been undertaking infrastructure expansions to deal with all the additional gas processing, Y-grade fractionation and exports of valuable products such as propane and butane. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll take a closer look at the expansion plans of AltaGas Ltd., one of Western Canada’s leading midstream operators.
Visualize the infrastructure behind U.S. NGL movement.
The U.S. NGLs Map provides a comprehensive view of the transport, processing, and export networks moving NGLs across the U.S.
Western Canada set a record for natural gas production in 2025 at 19.1 Bcf/d. With that mark, it stands to reason that the region will also see record output of NGLs, such as ethane, propane, butane, condensate and pentanes-plus (known as field condensate and natural gasoline in the U.S.), the vast majority of which are derived through the processing of NGLs at fractionation plants. Production of mixed NGLs (aka Y-grade) through the first 11 months of 2025 averaged 1.29 MMb/d (dashed red box in Figure 1 below), a gain of 0.06 Mb/d versus the same period in 2024, with the biggest growth coming in the pentanes-plus category (teal bar segments). It is that portion of the NGLs suite that has nearly insatiable demand for use as a diluent in Alberta’s oil sands. As discussed in Yes We Can, we expect that Y-grade output will experience additional volume growth in the range of 300 Mb/d by 2030, which would put total output at around 1.6 MMb/d that year.
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About the song
“What’s Up?” was written by Linda Perry and appears as the third song on 4 Non Blondes’ debut studio album, Bigger, Better, Faster, More! The song is also known by the chorus words: “What’s going on.” They named it “What’s Up?” to eliminate confusion with Marvin Gaye’s 1971 hit song with the same title. Vocalist Linda Perry was not satisfied with producer Dave Tickle's recording of the song, so she re-recorded it and produced it to her liking. Interscope label head Jimmy Iovine heard both versions and chose Perry’s to go on the album. Her version is the one that became a hit record. Released as a single in March 1993, it went to #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and has been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Personnel on the record were: Linda Perry (lead, backing vocals, guitar), Roger Rocha (guitar), Christa Hillhouse (bass, backing vocals) and Dawn Richardson (drums).
Bigger, Better, Faster, More! was recorded in 1992 at Groove Masters in Santa Monica, CA, and the Record Plant in Sausalito, CA, with Dave Tickle producing. Released in October 1992, the album went to #4 on the Billboard Heatseekers and #13 on the Billboard 200 Albums charts. It has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. Three singles were released from the LP.
4 Non Blondes is an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1989. The group was signed to Interscope Records in 1991. They have released a studio album, a live album and four singles. The band disbanded after Linda Perry left to pursue a solo career in 1994. They played a one-off reunion show in 2014 and have recently announced a reunion with new music forthcoming. Linda Perry has released three solo studio albums and two singles. She has written songs for other artists, including Pink, Gwen Stefani, Courtney Love, Christina Aguilera and Cheap Trick. She is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
"About the Song" -- written by Mickey McMahan , RBN Director of Musicology
