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 

### Page 1 of 8 EIA

- Natural Gas Pipeline Network

- Major Natural Gas Transportation Corridors

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

...

### 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 Oklaho ma panhandles, western Arkansas, and southwestern Kansas to the Midwest.

 

### 5. Southwest-Western: from the area of southwestern Texas (Permian Basin) an d 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 marke ts in the United States.

 

### 8. Canada-Northeast: from the area of Western Canada to Northeastern marke ts in the United States.

 

### 9. Eastern Offshore Canada-Northeast: from the area of offshore eastern Canada (Sable Isla nd) to New England markets in the United States.
Corridors From the Rocky Mountain Area
In the Central Region, only two major interstate pi pelines originating within the region provides tran sportation services directly to another region, Kern River Tra nsmission Company and the Rockies Express Pipeline Company. All the others operate primarily within th e Central Region itself or originate in other regio ns. Shippers using these interregional lines to move su pplies outside the region take advantage of the interconnections these lines have with the intersta te pipelines traversing the region, principally tho se 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 wi th support for markets in Oregon and Washington.

 

### 11. Rocky Mountains-Midwest: from the Rocky Mountain area to the Midwest, includi ng markets in Iowa, Missouri, and eastern Kansas.

Details about the Transportation Corridors

Southwest to Southeastern US
Two fairly distinct subcorridors extend into the So utheast Region from the Southwest: one goes eastwar d into Mississippi and continues further east, and the sec ond goes northward into Tennessee and Kentucky. Alo ng the first route, five major interstate pipeline com panies -- Centerpoint Energy Transmission Company, Florida Gas Transmission Company (FGT), Gulf South Pipeline Company, Gulfstream Natural Gas System, and Southern Natural Gas Company (SONAT) -- transport t he vast majority of natural gas that is delivered w ithin 

### Page 2 of 8 EIA

- Natural Gas Pipeline Network

- Major Natural Gas Transportation Corridors

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

...the Southeast region. Together they can handle at least 13.3 billion cubi c feet (Bcf) per day for shippers in the

region.
Since 2006, several major transmission pipeline exp ansions have taken place on this route as expanding natural gas development and production in the Barne tt shale and Bossier formations in east Texas has needed to find access to new markets. Centerpoint E nergy Transmission Company and Gulf South Pipeline Company have both extended and expanded their mainl ine systems to reach interstate pipeline interconnections in Mississippi and Alabama, increa sing capacity along this route by 3.7 Bcf/d. By 201 0, three more interstate pipelines are scheduled to be built along this corridor, adding 4.2 Bcf/d. They are: T exas Gas Transmission Company's 1.1 Bcf/d Fayetteville/Green ville Laterals, the 1.7 Bcf/d Gulf Crossing Pipelin e and the 1.4 Bcf/d MidContinent Express Pipeline.
Varying amounts of capacity on several other large interstate pipelines that follow this subcorridor a lso serve limited markets in the region. For instance, Transc ontinental Gas Pipeline Company (Transco) serves customers in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Car olina as it continues along its route up the east c oast. However, this service only represents about 1.1 Bcf per day, or 30 percent, of the 3.5 Bcf per day fou nd on the Transco system as it enters the region. Yet, in North Carolina it is essentially the only source o f 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 provid es substantial deliveries to underground storage facil ities in northern Kentucky that supplement supplies to the local market and to the Midwest Region during the h eating 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 principa l supplier of gas to two regional interstate pipeli nes: Enbridge Pipelines (AlaTenn), mostly operating in n orthern Alabama, and the East Tennessee Gas Company (Tennessee and Virginia).
The underground storage facilities located along th is corridor are defined by their location. Those fa cilities at the corridor's southern end in Louisiana, Mississip pi, and Alabama are mainly high-deliverability salt storage sites to support shippers and traders who want to a cquire supplies for shipment to market. Of the 11.6 Bcf of daily storage deliverability (withdrawal) available in th e area, 56 percent is from salt cavern sites.
This feature provides shippers using these corridor s access to very flexible storage, which can be use d to enhance their deliverability schedule, avoid transp ortation imbalances, and support any gas trading or hedging activities they may wish to engage in. In n orthwestern 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 syste m. The majority of the storage in Mississippi and Alabama is available to shippers using either subco rridor.

Southwest to Northeastern US

The Southwest-to-Northeast corridor consists of two routes. The first extends from East Texas and Loui siana northeastward through Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentu cky, and parts of Ohio to enter the Northeast Regio n via West Virginia or Pennsylvania. The second route beg ins as the first but then extends northeastward fro m Mississippi via the east coast States and enters Vi rginia from the south. The principal interstate pip eline systems operating along the corridor include Tennessee Gas, Columbia Gulf Transmission, and Texas Eastern Transmission on the western segment, and Tr anscontinental Gas Pipeline on the eastern segment. These four pipeline companies represent approximate ly 10.2 Bcf per day of total corridor capacity, mak ing this corridor the largest of the major transportati on 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 opera ting along this corridor tend to drop substantially . The principal factor affecting summertime usage rates o n several of these pipeline systems is the demand f or gas to refill underground storage sites in the States o f West Virginia and Pennsylvania, and, to some degr ee, Ohio and New York as well. 

### Page 3 of 8 EIA

- Natural Gas Pipeline Network

- Major Natural Gas Transportation Corridors

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

...The majority of the more than 190 underground stora ge sites located along this corridor are accessible to

shippers. At the southwestern terminus of the corri dor, 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 tr ading points located outside the Southwestern produ ction area. One of the most significant is the Ellisburg- Leidy center in Pennsylvania, which provides interconnections and transportation services betwee n the pipelines comprising this corridor and the ot her major interstate pipelines operating primarily with in the Northeast States. Shippers using the corrido r may also utilize the services of several natural gas ma rket centers to expand their marketing and transpor tation 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/K entucky into the Midwest Region, although a part of it also travels through Missouri. The principal inters tate 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), Tex as Gas Transmission Company (TGT), Texas Eastern Transmission Company (TETCO), and Trunkline Gas Company. Mississippi River Gas Transmission Pipeline Company also transports gas along this cor ridor but it terminates in the St Louis, Missouri, area. Its operations in Illinois are confined to the area eas t of St Louis.
The portions of these systems located along this co rridor represent approximately 7.8 Bcf per day, or 28 percent of the total pipeline capacity feeding i nto the Midwest Region (27.5 Bcf per day). They als o account for more than 30 percent of the total pipel ine capacity exiting this area of the Southwest.
Little underground storage is located along the mid section of this corridor. However, shippers have ac cess 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 i n northern Illinois. In addition, the corridor also includes several natural gas trading (and price discovery) l ocations 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 active ly used by shippers and other market participants a s a way to balance their receipts/deliveries, for arbit rage 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 (P ermian Basin) of southwestern Texas and the Chicago area market. It extends from the West Texas and Okl ahoma Panhandle areas northward through the major gas production fields (including Hugoton and Panhan dle) located in southwestern Kansas, and then northeastward toward the Midwest marketplace. In Ne braska, 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, Panhandl e Eastern Pipeline Company, Northern Natural Gas Comp any, and Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America

. These four pipelines alone constitute 67 percent of total pipeline capacity exiting this area. These p ipeline 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 Pip eline Company of America in Nebraska.
Market centers and commercial trading points locate d in the Waha and Panhandle area of West Texas serv e this transportation corridor at its apex. At its te rminus, shippers and traders can link their Texas t rading with the Chicago market. In addition, trading centers lo cated in south central Kansas provide shippers with the opportunity to do business with traders in the othe r two areas. All four pipelines operating in the co rridor have direct or indirect links with each other. 

### Page 4 of 8 EIA

- Natural Gas Pipeline Network

- Major Natural Gas Transportation Corridors

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

...Only a limited amount of underground storage capaci ty is available to transporters along this route. H owever,

during the nonheating season a sizeable amount of c apacity on these systems is used to transport suppl ies 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 northe rn 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 i nto the San Juan Basin production area), and westwa rd primarily to Arizona and California. Two major inte rstate pipelines, El Paso Natural Gas Company and Transwestern Pipeline Company, operate along this c orridor. Both of these pipelines end at the Califor nia or Nevada State borders, where they deliver supplies t o Southwest Gas Company (Nevada), Southern California Gas Company, and Pacific Gas & Electric Company, the largest pipelines serving the Californ ia marketplace. In addition, Transwestern Gas Pipeline Company links with the Mojave Pipeline Company, an interstate pipeline that transports natural gas sup plies to the enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and cogene ration customers located in Kern County, California.
Joining El Paso Natural Gas Company and Transwester n Pipeline Company along the northern route, in 200 2 Questar's Southern Trails Pipeline (an oil pipeline conversion) was completed, transporting an additio nal 90 MMcf per day between the San Juan Basin area and th e California border.
Much of the natural gas flowing along this corridor is produced in the San Juan Basin. The TransColora do Pipeline system, completed in 1996, can move as muc h as 590 MMcf per day from north central Colorado and the Ignacio area of the southern Colorado San J uan Basin to interconnections with the El Paso Natu ral Gas and Transwestern Pipeline systems in the Blanco area of northwestern New Mexico. Northwest Pipelin e Company also can deliver up to 250 Mmcf per day int o these two systems.
A significant amount of West Texas and New Mexico g as supplies also are transported along the southern portion of this corridor, which consists primarily of the El Paso Natural Gas Company's Line 2000 whic h has a throughput capacity of approximately 2.4 Bcf per da y. This section of the corridor primarily serves so uthern Arizona and southern California, but in 2002 it als o began service to the new North Baja Pipeline syst em, designed to transport up to 500 MMcf per day to Mex ico. (In 2010, the North Baja Pipeline system will become bidirectional, having the capability to tran sport up to 2.0 Bcf per day from LNG import facilit ies in Mexico to Western U.S. markets.)
There is very little underground natural gas storag e capacity associated with this corridor. At the ex treme eastern end of the corridor, only one site, the Was hington Ranch facility operated by El Paso Natural Gas Company, is reserved primarily for system support s ervices and is not available for customer use. At i ts western end, in southern California, a limited amou nt 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 thes e storage sites comes from producing fields in sout hern 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 sit es is 3.7 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per day, while t heir total working gas capacity is 120 Bcf. This translates in to roughly 32 days of backup from these sites.

Western Canada to Midwestern US
This transportation corridor lies between Western C anadian supply areas and the U.S. Midwest and links two Canadian systems, TransCanada Pipeline Ltd. and Foo thills Pipeline Company, with three United States pipeline systems, Great Lakes Gas Transmission Comp any, Northern Border Pipeline Company and Viking Gas Transmission Company. In addition, the 1,300-mi le Alliance Pipeline, completed in late 2000, provi des a direct transportation route for "wet" (natural gas high in liquids content) between producing fields i n northwestern British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, and a gas-processing plant (Aux Sable) located outs ide Chicago, Illinois. These tie-ins represent about 6. 2 Bcf per day of pipeline capacity, or about 41 per cent of total U.S. natural gas import capacity in 2006. Bet ween 1990 and 2006, capacity on this route more tha n doubled, going from 3.1 Bcf per day in 1990 to 7.2 Bcf per day in 2006. 

### Page 5 of 8 EIA

- Natural Gas Pipeline Network

- Major Natural Gas Transportation Corridors

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

...The Northern Border Pipeline (NBP) system extended its pipeline system to Illinois (from it original t erminus 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, th e Vector Pipeline system, located between Chicago, Illinois and Dawn, Ontario, at the eastern end of the corrid or, was placed in service. It can transport up to o ne Bcf per day between the United States (Michigan) and Ca nada (Ontario). It was developed primarily to provi de an alternative expansion route for Canadian gas and se rvice to customers in Ontario, Canada. It also lies along a route that can be expanded to potentially accommoda te gas transportation of Western Canadian gas to Northeast U.S. markets via the Empire/Millennium ga s pipeline system that is scheduled for development in New York State in 2008.
A large number of underground storage facilities ar e located in proximity to several of the pipeline s ystems operating in this corridor, although not all of the m are directly accessible to shippers. For instance , nine sites (1 Bcf per day injection, 1.8 Bcf per day withdrawa l capability) are directly accessible to shippers u sing the Great Lakes Gas Transmission system, while the stor age facilities located in Illinois and operated by Northern Illinois Gas Company (eight sites, 3.4 Bcf working gas capacity) are available only through the Chicag o Market Center, which is affiliated with the company , or through the company itself. Altogether, the da ily injection capability at storage facilities linked t o the receiving end of this corridor represents the potential use of about five Bcf per day of pipeline capacity duri ng the storage refill period from April through Oct ober.

Western Canada to Northeastern US
The western portion of the Canada-Northeast corrido r links the TransCanada Pipeline system (and Wester n Canadian gas production) to seven pipeline companie s in the Northeastern United States. The seven are: Iroquois Pipeline Company, North Country Pipeline C ompany, the Portland Gas Transmission System, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, Empire Pipeline Com pany, 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 o f the Canadian capacity that comes into the U.S. No rtheast is off the northern tier of the TransCanada system, about five percent represents capacity that traver ses the U.S. Midwest (on the Great Lakes Transmission syste m), crosses back into Canada through Ontario, and i s imported once again at Niagara, New York.

In Canada, at the western end of this corridor in A lberta and Saskatchewan provinces, approximately 4 Bcf per day of daily storage deliverability is availabl e at 12 sites interconnected with the TransCanada P ipeline System. In addition, over 25 storage sites located at Dawn, Ontario, Canada, are available to shippers transporting supplies to the area via the Great Lak es Transmission system. In the U.S. Northeast, storage deliverability of up to 14.8 Bcf per day is availab le to these shippers.
Eastern Canada to Northeast (New England)
This corridor consists primarily of the Maritimes a nd Northeast Pipeline system, completed in late 199 9. It can transport more than 445 MMcf per day into the Unite d States from off the eastern coast of Canada at Sa ble Island. The current system merges with the Portland Gas Transmission System at Wells, Maine to deliver almost 628 MMcf per day in northern Massachusetts t o customers on the Tennessee Gas Pipeline system. Beginning in 2002, with the completion of Phase III of the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline system, sh ippers have had the option of transporting up to 230 MMcf per day of this capacity to the Boston, Massachuset ts area on the system.

Canada to Western US
The Canada-Western route brings natural gas from Al berta and British Columbia, Canada, through the Sta tes 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 Trans Canada Pipeline (NOVA) in Alberta (the principal pi peline system in the region linked into the major producti on areas in Alberta and British Columbia) and trans port that gas to the U.S. border. There the supplies are rece ived by Northwest Pipeline Company (from Westcoast Gas Transmission) and Gas Transmission Northwest from A lberta Natural Gas

. The two pipelines have a 

### Page 6 of 8 EIA

- Natural Gas Pipeline Network

- Major Natural Gas Transportation Corridors

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

...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 S tates from Canada.
While the Gas Transmission Northwest Company transp orts most of its gas, about 76 percent in 2006, directly southward to California, the Northwe st Pipeline Company system extends south and eastwa rd from its border receipt point, operating on a bidir ectional basis along much of the eastern section. At the northern Nevada State line, Northwest Pipeline Comp any links with the Paiute Pipeline Company, which u ntil recently was the only gas supplier to the Reno, Nev ada, 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 intercon nects with the Gas Transmission Northwest Company system at the northern California border and transports ga s to the Reno, Nevada area.
Access to underground storage for shippers along th is corridor is limited. Much of the storage capacit y on the southern portion is owned and operated by local dis tribution companies and is used exclusively to supp ort their own seasonal storage needs. Nevertheless, shi ppers can acquire access to storage services on an asavailable basis through several independent storage operations. The California Gas Transmission Compan y 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 a nd 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 hav e a working gas capacity level of about 412 Bcf.
Rocky Mountain Area to Western US
This system extends from the Opal, Wyoming area sou thwestward through Nevada, just north of Las Vegas, to Kern County, California. In California, the Kern River Pipeline system physically merges with the M ojave Pipeline system (400 MMcf per day) to form one line serving customers primarily in Kern and San Bernar dino Counties in California. Mojave receives its supplie s from Transwestern Gas Pipeline Company and El Pas o Natural Gas Company at the Arizona- California border. Its capacity is approximately 88 5 million cubic feet per day.
The Kern River Pipeline system was developed primar ily to carry gas to the enhanced oil recovery marke t in southern California, which has been a large natural gas market. In 1997, its service was extended to t he Las Vegas electric power generation market with the ope ning of an expanded metering facility with Southwes t Gas Company, the major natural gas distributor in t he Las Vegas area. Its system capacity was doubled in 2003 to approximately 1,750 MMcf/d to accommodate t he growing demand along its route.
Underground storage facilities, although available at the apex of this corridor in Wyoming and Utah, d o not play a major role in the operations of the Kern Riv er Pipeline system. Although six sites are in the v icinity, with a combined daily deliverability of 0.7 Bcf per day and 57 Bcf of working gas capacity, only one, Quest ar 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 supp lies from Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado with markets in the Midwestern United States and with several sizab le metropolitan markets in eastern Kansas and Misso uri. While the corridor itself does not yet extend into the Midwest, the several pipelines currently operat ing along this route interconnect with major trunklines that bring natural gas supplies from the Southwest Regio n to Midwestern markets.
The Trailblazer System, which is a contiguous linku p of the Overthrust, Wyoming Interstate , and Trailblazer pipelines, operates from western Wyoming to eastern Nebraska, where it offloads to the Natural Gas Pip eline Company of America pipeline. Similarly, Colorado In terstate Pipeline Company ’s Cheyenne Plains Pipeli ne, built in 2004, provides more than 730 MMcf/d of gas transportation for Wyoming and Colorado production from the Cheyenne Hub located in northeastern Color ado. The Cheyenne Plains Pipeline terminates with interconnections to Northern Natural Gas and Natura l Gas Pipeline Company of America in southwestern Kansas. Natural gas transported on these pipeline s ystems is subsequently delivered to customers in th e eastern portion of the Central Region and in Midwes tern markets.
The Southern Star Central Pipeline (formerly Williams Natural Gas Co – Central) and th e KM Interstate 

### Page 7 of 8 EIA

- Natural Gas Pipeline Network

- Major Natural Gas Transportation Corridors

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

...Pipeline Company also have operations along this co rridor, but these two pipelines serve primarily loc al

regional markets. However, the KM Interstate Pipeli ne Company system does include its Pony Express Pipeline (255 million cubic feet per day) segment w hich runs from central Wyoming to south of Kansas C ity, Missouri. Currently this segment does not provide a ny interconnections with the two major interstate p ipelines connecting this corridor to Midwestern markets; rat her, its full capacity is committed to customers lo cated in the Kansas City area.
In 2008, the second segment of the 1.8 Bcf/d Rockie s 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 o f 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 Colora do. Completion of the entire system, which is scheduled for early 2010, will mark the first time that Rocky Mountain natural gas supplies would be d elivered directly to Midwest and Northeast markets.
Customers using this corridor have a limited number of underground storage facilities available for th eir use. At the terminus of the corridor in Wyoming and Colo rado are 18 sites that customers may access. Much o f the storage located at this end, however, is used t o support local producers and distribution companie s. In the Chicago area corridor, shippers also have access to several storage facilities associated with the Chi cago market center. 

### Page 8 of 8 EIA

- Natural Gas Pipeline Network

- Major Natural Gas Transportation Corridors

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

...