There’s an interesting aspect to the buildout of new Permian gas processing capacity, NGL pipelines, fractionators and NGL export terminals, namely that virtually all of the projects are being undertaken by midstream companies that handle NGLs along their entire value chain, from wellhead to water. That’s a rarity in the crude oil world and just about impossible in natural gas — no classic midstreamer owns LNG export terminals! In today’s RBN blog, we continue our look at the latest NGL-related infrastructure developments in the region with a review of current projects by Energy Transfer, ONEOK, MPLX and Phillips 66. We’ll also take a big-picture look at gas processing capacity in the basin and where most of the growth is occurring.
As we said in Part 1, the rapid buildout of Permian gas processing plants and other NGL-related infrastructure in Texas and southeastern New Mexico is continuing, even as crude oil-focused production in the Permian has remained flat. We explained that, generally speaking, newer wells in the basin are gassier and saturated with ever-higher levels of NGLs. Those trends have spurred the development of more and more processing plants as well as additional takeaway capacity (for both NGLs and natural gas), more fractionators in Mont Belvieu (and elsewhere), and more LPG and ethane export capacity along Texas’s Gulf Coast.
We started our review of the infrastructure projects now under development with a look at what Targa Resources and Enterprise Products Partners have been up to. Today, we follow up with a review of projects planned by four other midstreamers that are involved in every aspect of NGL processing and transportation.
We’ll start with Energy Transfer, which is in the midst of expanding almost every link along its NGL value chain. Out in West Texas, the midstreamer has been commissioning its 275-MMcf/d Mustang Draw I gas processing plant in the Midland Basin and expects it to be fully operational in June. Energy Transfer also is building Mustang Draw II, another 275-MMcf/d plant, and will bring it online in Q4 2026. (That will give Energy Transfer a total of about 5.8 Bcf/d of processing capacity in the Permian.) In mid-2026 the company will complete a 90-Mb/d expansion of its Lone Star Express NGL pipeline and in mid-2027 it will finish a pipeline looping project upstream of Lone Star Express that will enable Energy Transfer to source an incremental 150 Mb/d of NGLs from the Northern Delaware.
Energy Transfer’s Nederland Terminal. Source: Energy Transfer
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About the song
“Calling All Angels” was written by Pat Monahan, Jimmy Stafford and Scott Underwood, and appears as the first song on Train’s third studio album, My Private Nation. The song was inspired by a conversation with Monahan and his therapist, who put forth the idea that we are all made up of angels and traitors, and the lyrics follow that struggle between good and evil. Released as the first single from the album in April 2003, it went to #1 on the Billboard Adult Alternative Airplay chart and #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. It has been certified 2X Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song is played at every home game of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Angels. Personnel on the record were: Pat Monahan (lead vocals, percussion), Jimmy Stafford (lead guitar, backing vocals), Scott Underwood (drums, percussion, keyboards), Charlie Colin (bass, backing vocals), and Rob Hotchkiss (rhythm guitar, piano).
My Private Nation was recorded in 2003 at Southern Tracks Recording in Atlanta and produced by Brendon O’Brien. Released in June 2003, it went to #6 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. Three singles were released from the LP.
Train is an American pop-rock band formed in San Francisco in 1993 by Pat Monahan, Rob Hotchkiss, Jimmy Stafford, Scott Underwood and Charlie Colin. The band has released 11 studio albums, three live albums, one compilation album, four EPs and 34 singles and have sold more than 10 million records worldwide. They have won one ASCAP Award, two Billboard Music Awards and three Grammy Awards. Sixteen members have passed through the band since its formation, with founding member Monahan the sole original member still in the group. They will begin a U.S. tour with Barenaked Ladies in July and continue through August.
"About the Song" -- written by Mickey McMahan , RBN Director of Musicology
