Home > Natural Gas > About U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines > Major Natural Gas Transportation Corridors 

About U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines - Transporting Natural Gas 

Major Natural Gas Transportation 

Corridors 

Corridors from the Southwest | From Canada | 

From Rocky Mountain Area | Details about 

Transportation Corridors

The national natural gas delivery network is 

intricate and expansive, but most of the major 

transportation routes can be broadly 

categorized into 11 distinct corridors or flow 

patterns. 

 5 major routes extend from the 

producing areas of the Southwest 

 4 routes enter the United States from 

Canada 

 2 originate in the Rocky Mountain area. 

A summary of the major corridors and links to 

details about each corridor are provided below. 

 

Corridors from the Southwest Region 

More than 20 of the major interstate pipelines 

originate in the Southwest Region. Some 

extend to the Southeast through Louisiana and 

Arkansas, others to the Central and Midwestern 

States through Texas, Oklahoma, and 

Arkansas, and to the Western States through 

New Mexico. This area of the country exports 

about 45 percent (6.1 trillion cubic feet in 2007) 

of its production, which is 47 percent of the total

natural gas consumed elsewhere in the lower 

48 States. 

Pipelines exiting the region have the capacity to 

accommodate as much as 45.2 Bcf per day: 62 

percent to the Southeast Region, 20 percent to 

the Central Region, 13 percent to the Western 

Region, and the rest to Mexico. Much of the 

pipeline capacity directed toward the Southeast 

traverses the region en route to Midwestern 

and Northeastern markets. To a lesser degree, 

this is also true for the pipeline capacity exiting

to the midsection of the country, much of which 

is ultimately destined for the Midwestern States.

 1. Southwest-Southeast: from the area 

of East Texas, Louisiana, and the Gulf 

Major Natural Gas Transportation Corridors 

 click to enlarge

U.S. Regional Definitions - Map

More information related to Natural Gas 

Transportation Corridors ...

Region-to-Region System Capacity Levels - Map

Interstate Pipeline Capacity on a State-to-State Level

- spreadsheet

 Other Natural Gas Transportation Topics: 

 Interstate - Pipeline systems that cross one or more States

 Intrastate - Pipeline systems that operate only within State 

boundaries 

 Network Design - Basic concepts and parameters 

 Pipeline Capacity & Usage

 Regulatory Authorities 

 Transportation, Processing, & Gathering

 Underground Natural Gas Storage - Includes regional discussion

 Pipeline Development & Expansion

 U.S./Canada/Mexico Import & Export Locations

EIA - Natural Gas Pipeline Network - Major Natural Gas Transportation Corridors Page 1 of 8

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/natural_gas/analysis_publications/ngpipeline/transcorr... 11/4/2010
of Mexico, to the Southeastern States. 

 2. Southwest-Northeast: from the area 

of East Texas, Louisiana, and the Gulf 

of Mexico, to the U.S. Northeast (via the 

Southeast Region). 

 

 3. Southwest-Midwest: from the area of 

East Texas, Louisiana, Gulf of Mexico, 

and Arkansas to the Midwest. 

 4. Southwest Panhandle-Midwest: from the area of southwestern Texas, the Texas and Oklahoma 

panhandles, western Arkansas, and southwestern Kansas to the Midwest. 

 5. Southwest-Western: from the area of southwestern Texas (Permian Basin) and northern New 

Mexico (San Juan Basin) to the Western States, primarily California. 

Corridors From Canada

 6. Canada-Western: from the area of Western Canada to Western markets in the United States, 

principally California, Oregon, and Washington State. 

 7. Canada-Midwest: from the area of Western Canada to Midwestern markets in the United States. 

 8. Canada-Northeast: from the area of Western Canada to Northeastern markets in the United 

States. 

 9. Eastern Offshore Canada-Northeast: from the area of offshore eastern Canada (Sable Island) to 

New England markets in the United States. 

Corridors From the Rocky Mountain Area

In the Central Region, only two major interstate pipelines originating within the region provides transportation 

services directly to another region, Kern River Transmission Company and the Rockies Express Pipeline 

Company. All the others operate primarily within the Central Region itself or originate in other regions. 

Shippers using these interregional lines to move supplies outside the region take advantage of the 

interconnections these lines have with the interstate pipelines traversing the region, principally those coming 

out of the Southwest Region. 

 10. Rocky Mountains-Western: from the Rocky Mountain area of Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming to 

the Western States, primarily Nevada and California with support for markets in Oregon and 

Washington. 

 11. Rocky Mountains-Midwest: from the Rocky Mountain area to the Midwest, including markets in 

Iowa, Missouri, and eastern Kansas. 

Details about the Transportation Corridors

Southwest to Southeastern US

Two fairly distinct subcorridors extend into the Southeast Region from the Southwest: one goes eastward into 

Mississippi and continues further east, and the second goes northward into Tennessee and Kentucky. Along 

the first route, five major interstate pipeline companies -- Centerpoint Energy Transmission Company, Florida 

Gas Transmission Company (FGT), Gulf South Pipeline Company, Gulfstream Natural Gas System, and 

Southern Natural Gas Company (SONAT) -- transport the vast majority of natural gas that is delivered within 

EIA - Natural Gas Pipeline Network - Major Natural Gas Transportation Corridors Page 2 of 8

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/natural_gas/analysis_publications/ngpipeline/transcorr... 11/4/2010
the Southeast region. Together they can handle at least 13.3 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per day for shippers in the 

region. 

Since 2006, several major transmission pipeline expansions have taken place on this route as expanding

natural gas development and production in the Barnett shale and Bossier formations in east Texas has 

needed to find access to new markets. Centerpoint Energy Transmission Company and Gulf South Pipeline 

Company have both extended and expanded their mainline systems to reach interstate pipeline 

interconnections in Mississippi and Alabama, increasing capacity along this route by 3.7 Bcf/d. By 2010, three 

more interstate pipelines are scheduled to be built along this corridor, adding 4.2 Bcf/d. They are: Texas Gas 

Transmission Company's 1.1 Bcf/d Fayetteville/Greenville Laterals, the 1.7 Bcf/d Gulf Crossing Pipeline and 

the 1.4 Bcf/d MidContinent Express Pipeline. 

Varying amounts of capacity on several other large interstate pipelines that follow this subcorridor also serve 

limited markets in the region. For instance, Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company (Transco) serves 

customers in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina as it continues along its route up the east coast. 

However, this service only represents about 1.1 Bcf per day, or 30 percent, of the 3.5 Bcf per day found on 

the Transco system as it enters the region. Yet, in North Carolina it is essentially the only source of natural 

gas supplies to the State. 

Along the second subcorridor, one pipeline company Texas Gas Transmission Company (TGT) 

predominates, at least in terms of delivery points. While this system extends into the Midwest Region, more 

than 70 percent of its delivery points are located in the States of Kentucky and Tennessee. TGT provides 

substantial deliveries to underground storage facilities in northern Kentucky that supplement supplies to the 

local market and to the Midwest Region during the heating season. 

Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company (Tenneco) and Texas Eastern Transmission Company (TETCO) are two 

additional systems operating along this subcorridor, but most of their delivery points are outside the

Southeast Region. Tenneco, however, is the principal supplier of gas to two regional interstate pipelines: 

Enbridge Pipelines (AlaTenn), mostly operating in northern Alabama, and the East Tennessee Gas Company

(Tennessee and Virginia). 

The underground storage facilities located along this corridor are defined by their location. Those facilities at 

the corridor's southern end in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama are mainly high-deliverability salt storage 

sites to support shippers and traders who want to acquire supplies for shipment to market. Of the 11.6 Bcf of 

daily storage deliverability (withdrawal) available in the area, 56 percent is from salt cavern sites. 

This feature provides shippers using these corridors access to very flexible storage, which can be used to 

enhance their deliverability schedule, avoid transportation imbalances, and support any gas trading or

hedging activities they may wish to engage in. In northwestern Kentucky, along the western subcorridor, 

storage facilities are devoted primarily to providing seasonal supplies. They are supported, for the most part, 

by deliveries from the Texas Gas Transmission system. The majority of the storage in Mississippi and 

Alabama is available to shippers using either subcorridor. 

Southwest to Northeastern US

The Southwest-to-Northeast corridor consists of two routes. The first extends from East Texas and Louisiana 

northeastward through Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, and parts of Ohio to enter the Northeast Region via 

West Virginia or Pennsylvania. The second route begins as the first but then extends northeastward from 

Mississippi via the east coast States and enters Virginia from the south. The principal interstate pipeline 

systems operating along the corridor include Tennessee Gas, Columbia Gulf Transmission, and Texas 

Eastern Transmission on the western segment, and Transcontinental Gas Pipeline on the eastern segment.

These four pipeline companies represent approximately 10.2 Bcf per day of total corridor capacity, making 

this corridor the largest of the major transportation corridors in North America. 

During wintertime peak periods, each of the systems is almost fully utilized. During the summer months, 

however, usage rates for the pipeline systems operating along this corridor tend to drop substantially. The 

principal factor affecting summertime usage rates on several of these pipeline systems is the demand for gas 

to refill underground storage sites in the States of West Virginia and Pennsylvania, and, to some degree, Ohio 

and New York as well. 

EIA - Natural Gas Pipeline Network - Major Natural Gas Transportation Corridors Page 3 of 8

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/natural_gas/analysis_publications/ngpipeline/transcorr... 11/4/2010
The majority of the more than 190 underground storage sites located along this corridor are accessible to 

shippers. At the southwestern terminus of the corridor, more than 30 sites with a working gas capacity of at 

least 624 billion cubic feet and a daily withdrawal capability of 13 Bcf per day are located within 20 miles of 

the subject pipeline systems. Most of this capacity is used by producers, who use it to store short-term excess 

production, and by market centers. 

This corridor links with some of the most active trading points located outside the Southwestern production 

area. One of the most significant is the Ellisburg-Leidy center in Pennsylvania, which provides 

interconnections and transportation services between the pipelines comprising this corridor and the other 

major interstate pipelines operating primarily within the Northeast States. Shippers using the corridor may 

also utilize the services of several natural gas market centers to expand their marketing and transportation 

options. 

Southwest to Midwestern US

The Southwest-to-Midwest corridor extends northward out of East Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas (Arkoma

Basin production) and generally through Tennessee/Kentucky into the Midwest Region, although a part of it 

also travels through Missouri. The principal interstate pipeline systems operating along this corridor are: ANR 

Pipeline Company (ANR), Midwestern Gas Transmission Company (via Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company), 

Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (NGPL), Texas Gas Transmission Company (TGT), Texas 

Eastern Transmission Company (TETCO), and Trunkline Gas Company. Mississippi River Gas Transmission 

Pipeline Company also transports gas along this corridor but it terminates in the St Louis, Missouri, area. Its 

operations in Illinois are confined to the area east of St Louis. 

The portions of these systems located along this corridor represent approximately 7.8 Bcf per day, or 

28 percent of the total pipeline capacity feeding into the Midwest Region (27.5 Bcf per day). They also 

account for more than 30 percent of the total pipeline capacity exiting this area of the Southwest. 

Little underground storage is located along the midsection of this corridor. However, shippers have access to 

significant amounts of storage at either end. This corridor also links together two major gas trading centers: 

the Henry Hub in Louisiana and the Chicago Center in northern Illinois. In addition, the corridor also includes 

several natural gas trading (and price discovery) locations accessible to shippers and traders via the several 

major commercial electronic trading systems set up in the United States and Canada. 

During the heating season, these markets are actively used by shippers and other market participants as a 

way to balance their receipts/deliveries, for arbitrage between the two markets, and to smooth market and 

price fluctuations through hedging. 

Southwest Panhandle to Midwestern US

This route is a major link between the Waha area (Permian Basin) of southwestern Texas and the Chicago

area market. It extends from the West Texas and Oklahoma Panhandle areas northward through the major 

gas production fields (including Hugoton and Panhandle) located in southwestern Kansas, and then 

northeastward toward the Midwest marketplace. In Nebraska, it links with another corridor (see Rocky 

Mountain-Midwest section) bringing supplies in from the Rocky Mountain areas of Wyoming, Utah, and 

Colorado. 

There are four major interstate pipelines that run along this corridor: ANR Pipeline Company, Panhandle 

Eastern Pipeline Company, Northern Natural Gas Company, and Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America. 

These four pipelines alone constitute 67 percent of total pipeline capacity exiting this area. These pipeline 

routes, however, represent only about 17 percent of the total capacity into the Midwest Region. The 

Trailblazer Pipeline system ties in Rocky Mountain supplies with an interconnection to Natural Gas Pipeline 

Company of America in Nebraska. 

Market centers and commercial trading points located in the Waha and Panhandle area of West Texas serve 

this transportation corridor at its apex. At its terminus, shippers and traders can link their Texas trading with 

the Chicago market. In addition, trading centers located in south central Kansas provide shippers with the 

opportunity to do business with traders in the other two areas. All four pipelines operating in the corridor have 

direct or indirect links with each other. 

EIA - Natural Gas Pipeline Network - Major Natural Gas Transportation Corridors Page 4 of 8

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/natural_gas/analysis_publications/ngpipeline/transcorr... 11/4/2010
Only a limited amount of underground storage capacity is available to transporters along this route. However, 

during the nonheating season a sizeable amount of capacity on these systems is used to transport supplies 

for injection into storage facilities in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. The ANR Pipeline system in particular has 

a number of open-access sites located at the northern end of its system in Michigan. NGPL has a number of 

storage sites located in Illinois. 

Southwest to Western US

The Southwest-Western corridor is used to transport supplies from the Permian Basin area of West Texas, 

through New Mexico (where the northern route taps into the San Juan Basin production area), and westward 

primarily to Arizona and California. Two major interstate pipelines, El Paso Natural Gas Company and 

Transwestern Pipeline Company, operate along this corridor. Both of these pipelines end at the California or 

Nevada State borders, where they deliver supplies to Southwest Gas Company (Nevada), Southern 

California Gas Company, and Pacific Gas & Electric Company, the largest pipelines serving the California 

marketplace. In addition, Transwestern Gas Pipeline Company links with the Mojave Pipeline Company, an

interstate pipeline that transports natural gas supplies to the enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and cogeneration 

customers located in Kern County, California. 

Joining El Paso Natural Gas Company and Transwestern Pipeline Company along the northern route, in 2002 

Questar's Southern Trails Pipeline (an oil pipeline conversion) was completed, transporting an additional 90 

MMcf per day between the San Juan Basin area and the California border. 

Much of the natural gas flowing along this corridor is produced in the San Juan Basin. The TransColorado 

Pipeline system, completed in 1996, can move as much as 590 MMcf per day from north central Colorado 

and the Ignacio area of the southern Colorado San Juan Basin to interconnections with the El Paso Natural 

Gas and Transwestern Pipeline systems in the Blanco area of northwestern New Mexico. Northwest Pipeline 

Company also can deliver up to 250 Mmcf per day into these two systems. 

A significant amount of West Texas and New Mexico gas supplies also are transported along the southern

portion of this corridor, which consists primarily of the El Paso Natural Gas Company's Line 2000 which has a 

throughput capacity of approximately 2.4 Bcf per day. This section of the corridor primarily serves southern 

Arizona and southern California, but in 2002 it also began service to the new North Baja Pipeline system, 

designed to transport up to 500 MMcf per day to Mexico. (In 2010, the North Baja Pipeline system will 

become bidirectional, having the capability to transport up to 2.0 Bcf per day from LNG import facilities in 

Mexico to Western U.S. markets.) 

There is very little underground natural gas storage capacity associated with this corridor. At the extreme 

eastern end of the corridor, only one site, the Washington Ranch facility operated by El Paso Natural Gas 

Company, is reserved primarily for system support services and is not available for customer use. At its 

western end, in southern California, a limited amount of storage capacity is available to shippers at five sites 

operated by Southern California Gas Company (SoCal). 

Although some of the natural gas injected into these storage sites comes from producing fields in southern 

California, a significant amount of the working gas stored at these sites comes out of this corridor. The 

combined withdrawal rate capability of the four sites is 3.7 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per day, while their total 

working gas capacity is 120 Bcf. This translates into roughly 32 days of backup from these sites. 

Western Canada to Midwestern US

This transportation corridor lies between Western Canadian supply areas and the U.S. Midwest and links two 

Canadian systems, TransCanada Pipeline Ltd. and Foothills Pipeline Company, with three United States 

pipeline systems, Great Lakes Gas Transmission Company, Northern Border Pipeline Company and Viking 

Gas Transmission Company. In addition, the 1,300-mile Alliance Pipeline, completed in late 2000, provides a 

direct transportation route for "wet" (natural gas high in liquids content) between producing fields in 

northwestern British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, and a gas-processing plant (Aux Sable) located outside 

Chicago, Illinois. These tie-ins represent about 6.2 Bcf per day of pipeline capacity, or about 41 percent of 

total U.S. natural gas import capacity in 2006. Between 1990 and 2006, capacity on this route more than 

doubled, going from 3.1 Bcf per day in 1990 to 7.2 Bcf per day in 2006. 

EIA - Natural Gas Pipeline Network - Major Natural Gas Transportation Corridors Page 5 of 8

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/natural_gas/analysis_publications/ngpipeline/transcorr... 11/4/2010
The Northern Border Pipeline (NBP) system extended its pipeline system to Illinois (from it original terminus in 

Iowa) in 1998 and to Indiana in 2001, now providing almost a Bcf per day to the Chicago area and to 

customers in Indiana. In 2000, another pipeline, the Vector Pipeline system, located between Chicago, Illinois 

and Dawn, Ontario, at the eastern end of the corridor, was placed in service. It can transport up to one Bcf 

per day between the United States (Michigan) and Canada (Ontario). It was developed primarily to provide an 

alternative expansion route for Canadian gas and service to customers in Ontario, Canada. It also lies along a 

route that can be expanded to potentially accommodate gas transportation of Western Canadian gas to 

Northeast U.S. markets via the Empire/Millennium gas pipeline system that is scheduled for development in 

New York State in 2008. 

A large number of underground storage facilities are located in proximity to several of the pipeline systems 

operating in this corridor, although not all of them are directly accessible to shippers. For instance, nine sites 

(1 Bcf per day injection, 1.8 Bcf per day withdrawal capability) are directly accessible to shippers using the 

Great Lakes Gas Transmission system, while the storage facilities located in Illinois and operated by Northern 

Illinois Gas Company (eight sites, 3.4 Bcf working gas capacity) are available only through the Chicago 

Market Center, which is affiliated with the company, or through the company itself. Altogether, the daily 

injection capability at storage facilities linked to the receiving end of this corridor represents the potential use 

of about five Bcf per day of pipeline capacity during the storage refill period from April through October.

Western Canada to Northeastern US

The western portion of the Canada-Northeast corridor links the TransCanada Pipeline system (and Western 

Canadian gas production) to seven pipeline companies in the Northeastern United States. The seven are: 

Iroquois Pipeline Company, North Country Pipeline Company, the Portland Gas Transmission System, 

Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, Empire Pipeline Company, Vermont Gas Company, and St. Lawrence 

Gas Company. Indirectly, the corridor also supplies gas to the National Fuel Gas Supply Company and 

Dominion Transmission Company. 

The seven systems transport gas primarily into New York and the New England States at a total capacity

level of 3.4 Bcf per day. While the vast majority of the Canadian capacity that comes into the U.S. Northeast 

is off the northern tier of the TransCanada system, about five percent represents capacity that traverses the 

U.S. Midwest (on the Great Lakes Transmission system), crosses back into Canada through Ontario, and is 

imported once again at Niagara, New York. 

In Canada, at the western end of this corridor in Alberta and Saskatchewan provinces, approximately 4 Bcf 

per day of daily storage deliverability is available at 12 sites interconnected with the TransCanada Pipeline 

System. In addition, over 25 storage sites located at Dawn, Ontario, Canada, are available to shippers

transporting supplies to the area via the Great Lakes Transmission system. In the U.S. Northeast, storage 

deliverability of up to 14.8 Bcf per day is available to these shippers. 

Eastern Canada to Northeast (New England)

This corridor consists primarily of the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline system, completed in late 1999. It can 

transport more than 445 MMcf per day into the United States from off the eastern coast of Canada at Sable 

Island. The current system merges with the Portland Gas Transmission System at Wells, Maine to deliver

almost 628 MMcf per day in northern Massachusetts to customers on the Tennessee Gas Pipeline system. 

Beginning in 2002, with the completion of Phase III of the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline system, shippers 

have had the option of transporting up to 230 MMcf per day of this capacity to the Boston, Massachusetts 

area on the system. 

Canada to Western US

The Canada-Western route brings natural gas from Alberta and British Columbia, Canada, through the States 

of Washington, Idaho, and Oregon, with terminating points in Nevada and California. In Canada, Spectra

Energy Corporation's Westcoast Gas Transmission Ltd. and Alberta Natural Gas Ltd. (in association with 

Foothills Pipeline Ltd.) receive gas from the TransCanada Pipeline (NOVA) in Alberta (the principal pipeline 

system in the region linked into the major production areas in Alberta and British Columbia) and transport that 

gas to the U.S. border. There the supplies are received by Northwest Pipeline Company (from Westcoast Gas 

Transmission) and Gas Transmission Northwest from Alberta Natural Gas. The two pipelines have a 

EIA - Natural Gas Pipeline Network - Major Natural Gas Transportation Corridors Page 6 of 8

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/natural_gas/analysis_publications/ngpipeline/transcorr... 11/4/2010
combined capacity of 4.4 Bcf per day, 99 percent of import capacity in the area. This route represents onequarter of the total capacity reaching the United States from Canada. 

While the Gas Transmission Northwest Company transports most of its gas, about 76 percent in 

2006, directly southward to California, the Northwest Pipeline Company system extends south and eastward 

from its border receipt point, operating on a bidirectional basis along much of the eastern section. At the 

northern Nevada State line, Northwest Pipeline Company links with the Paiute Pipeline Company, which until 

recently was the only gas supplier to the Reno, Nevada, area. Only one new pipeline has been added to the 

corridor since 1990, the Tuscarora Pipeline Company (110 MMcf per day) in 1995. This pipeline interconnects 

with the Gas Transmission Northwest Company system at the northern California border and transports gas 

to the Reno, Nevada area. 

Access to underground storage for shippers along this corridor is limited. Much of the storage capacity on the 

southern portion is owned and operated by local distribution companies and is used exclusively to support 

their own seasonal storage needs. Nevertheless, shippers can acquire access to storage services on an asavailable basis through several independent storage operations. The California Gas Transmission Company 

provides limited access to its three storage sites in northern California. At the Canadian end of the corridor, 

much of the available storage is intricately linked with market center operations, providing parking and loaning 

services primarily to producers shipping gas to the United States. These Canadian sites are capable of

handling up to 6 Bcf per day deliverability and have a working gas capacity level of about 412 Bcf.

Rocky Mountain Area to Western US

This system extends from the Opal, Wyoming area southwestward through Nevada, just north of Las Vegas,

to Kern County, California. In California, the Kern River Pipeline system physically merges with the Mojave 

Pipeline system (400 MMcf per day) to form one line serving customers primarily in Kern and San Bernardino 

Counties in California. Mojave receives its supplies from Transwestern Gas Pipeline Company and El Paso 

Natural Gas Company at the Arizona-California border. Its capacity is approximately 885 million cubic feet per 

day. 

The Kern River Pipeline system was developed primarily to carry gas to the enhanced oil recovery market in 

southern California, which has been a large natural gas market. In 1997, its service was extended to the Las 

Vegas electric power generation market with the opening of an expanded metering facility with Southwest 

Gas Company, the major natural gas distributor in the Las Vegas area. Its system capacity was doubled in 

2003 to approximately 1,750 MMcf/d to accommodate the growing demand along its route. 

Underground storage facilities, although available at the apex of this corridor in Wyoming and Utah, do not 

play a major role in the operations of the Kern River Pipeline system. Although six sites are in the vicinity, with 

a combined daily deliverability of 0.7 Bcf per day and 57 Bcf of working gas capacity, only one, Questar 

Pipeline Company's Clay Basin facility (0.4 Bcf per day, 51 Bcf), is accessible to shippers. 

Rocky Mountain Area to Midwestern US

This corridor links Rocky Mountain natural gas supplies from Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado with markets in 

the Midwestern United States and with several sizable metropolitan markets in eastern Kansas and Missouri. 

While the corridor itself does not yet extend into the Midwest, the several pipelines currently operating along 

this route interconnect with major trunklines that bring natural gas supplies from the Southwest Region to 

Midwestern markets. 

The Trailblazer System, which is a contiguous linkup of the Overthrust, Wyoming Interstate, and Trailblazer 

pipelines, operates from western Wyoming to eastern Nebraska, where it offloads to the Natural Gas Pipeline 

Company of America pipeline. Similarly, Colorado Interstate Pipeline Company ’s Cheyenne Plains Pipeline, 

built in 2004, provides more than 730 MMcf/d of gas transportation for Wyoming and Colorado production

from the Cheyenne Hub located in northeastern Colorado. The Cheyenne Plains Pipeline terminates with 

interconnections to Northern Natural Gas and Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America in southwestern 

Kansas. Natural gas transported on these pipeline systems is subsequently delivered to customers in the 

eastern portion of the Central Region and in Midwestern markets.

The Southern Star Central Pipeline (formerly Williams Natural Gas Co – Central) and the KM Interstate 

EIA - Natural Gas Pipeline Network - Major Natural Gas Transportation Corridors Page 7 of 8

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/natural_gas/analysis_publications/ngpipeline/transcorr... 11/4/2010
Pipeline Company also have operations along this corridor, but these two pipelines serve primarily local 

regional markets. However, the KM Interstate Pipeline Company system does include its Pony Express 

Pipeline (255 million cubic feet per day) segment which runs from central Wyoming to south of Kansas City, 

Missouri. Currently this segment does not provide any interconnections with the two major interstate pipelines 

connecting this corridor to Midwestern markets; rather, its full capacity is committed to customers located in 

the Kansas City area. 

In 2008, the second segment of the 1.8 Bcf/d Rockies Express Pipeline system, which will eventually 

comprise more than 1,660 miles and transport Rocky Mountain natural gas to Midwest and Northeast 

markets, was placed in service. The first segment of the new system, completed in early 2007, involved the 

construction of a 327-mile pipeline system from the Meeker Hub in Rio Blanco County, Colorado, to the 

Cheyenne Hub in Weld County, in northeastern Colorado. Completion of the entire system, which is 

scheduled for early 2010, will mark the first time that Rocky Mountain natural gas supplies would be delivered 

directly to Midwest and Northeast markets. 

Customers using this corridor have a limited number of underground storage facilities available for their use. 

At the terminus of the corridor in Wyoming and Colorado are 18 sites that customers may access. Much of 

the storage located at this end, however, is used to support local producers and distribution companies. In the 

Chicago area corridor, shippers also have access to several storage facilities associated with the Chicago 

market center. 

EIA - Natural Gas Pipeline Network - Major Natural Gas Transportation Corridors Page 8 of 8

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/natural_gas/analysis_publications/ngpipeline/transcorr... 11/4/2010