
A new natural gas pipeline has opened in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico, relieving some of the transport constraints.
The Matterhorn Express is 580 miles long and has enough capacity to transport 2.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas each day, adding an extra 14% capacity to the region. This is important for crude oil producers in the region, such as ExxonMobil, the maker of the Mobile DTE hydraulic oil, because natural gas is a by-product of crude oil production, so being able to transport and sell it is important for increasing oil production.
Without sufficient capacity, companies need to pay for it to be taken away or, even worse, flare or vent it, which produces carbon dioxide and methane emissions respectively, both of which are greenhouse gasses.
Speaking to a news agency in an interview, Tall City Exploration CEO Mike Oestmann said:
“Matterhorn has freed up space, and the price we are getting for gas now has been positive for almost a month. We produced a lot of gas that we not only didn’t get paid for, we paid for it to be taken away.”
Oil producers can now concentrate on completing wells without worrying about takeaway constraints, with overall oil production possibly increasing by 350,000 barrels per day according to estimates.
Nevertheless, the increased production is expected to max out pipeline capacity again within a year to a year and a half – although the Blackcomb pipeline project should come online in the latter half of 2026.