Natural gas pipeline slated for completion in summer

By Jim Tiffin
Staff Writer

GALLUP — Increasing demand for natural gas from the West Coast has prompted Transwestern Pipeline Co., to add another major pipeline to this area.

The $138.4 million, 72.6 mile pipeline, called the San Juan Expansion, between Bloomfield and Gallup will be completed in June or July, says John Barnett, director of public information for Transwestern.

A line already exists along the same route the new line is being constructed, and ties into a major east-west line that originates in Texas and ends up in California, he says.

Local construction jobs in San Juan and McKinley counties, to the tune of about 250, were created for construction of the line, but as completion in Gallup nears, the number of local workers will decrease, Barnett says.

Natural gas is used in making electricity, by industrial manufacturers and local gas companies, like PNM, who distribute the gas for residential and business use.

"Natural gas is a very clean burning fuel and energy producers have tapped into new large gas reserves located in the San Juan Basin and the Rocky Mountains," Barnett says.

The current gas line between Bloomfield and Gallup carries 860 million cubic feet of gas per day. Once it joins the major east-west line in Gallup, that gas becomes part of the 1.2 billion cubic feet of gas being pushed to the west, Barnett says.

The pipes being laid in the new line have a diameter of 36 inches, Barnett says. It will add another 375 million cubic feet per day to the westbound capacity

The gas is compressed in substations and that compression causes it to flow in the direction the station sends it. That is how the gas is moved through the pipeline, he says.

Gas is also sent east on the major pipeline, although in a much smaller quantity, only 650 million cubic feet. The demand for natural gas east of Gallup is far less than that on the west coast due to California being the largest user.

Each of those substations that compresses the gas is between 50-75 miles apart, depending on terrain.

Natural gas is found alongside oil, Barnett says.

"Gas is drilled like oil and in many areas the gas and oil are in the same location," he says.

"There are liquids in the gas and when they go into the pipeline, the byproducts of butane and propane are removed in the processing and sold separately," he says.

Prior to beginning construction, Transwestern officials met with Navajo Nation officials as well as BIA, local, state and federal agencies to make sure all the regulations would be met.

"We are regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission," Barnett says.

"We understand the necessity of being a good neighbor and we also met with property owners in the area to hear what they had to say and inform them of our plans," he says.

The new pipeline is part of Transwestern's 2,400 miles of line in New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma. Three hundred twelve miles of that line goes through Cibola, McKinley and San Juan counties.

— To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call 287-2197 or e-mail: jtiffin@blackmesa-isp.net.