Pembina bolsters footprint in Alberta

OREANDA-NEWS. March 22, 2016. Pembina Pipeline is acquiring 250mn cf/d worth of natural gas processing assets from Paramount Resources for \\$556mn, bringing Pembina's total gas processing capacity to 1.7 Bcf/d by mid-2016.

The deal, expected to close in the second quarter of 2016, includes the acquisition of the Kakwa sour gas processing complex near Grande Prairie, Alberta, which is already connected to Pembina's system, as well as preliminary engineering work for another nearby sour gas processing facility known as the 6-18 Facility.

The acquisition comes as the midstream provider continues to grow its footprint in Alberta, which is struggling to find outlets for stranded gas and NGL production. Today Pembina announced its second 73,000 b/d fractionator at the Redwater gas processing complex will be online later this month; it is the first new fractionator in the province in 20 years, and is fully contracted in 10-year take-or-pay agreements.

The Redwater fractionator will help feed diluent to Pembina's proposed 400,000 b/d diluent hub near Edmonton, which would collect and distribute condensate for delivery to oil sands producers by mid-2017. Pembina this week revised the expected cost of the hub project downward from \\$350mn to