Oil & Gas Pro

Are We Building Enough Gas Pipeline Capacity East Out of Katy?

Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough – Are We Building Enough Gas Pipeline Capacity East Out of Katy?

Friday, 10/16/2026  Published by: Housley Carr  https://rbnenergy.com

Excerpt.  Link to full article:  https://rbnenergy.com/daily-posts/blog/are-we-building-enough-gas-p...

The volumes of Permian natural gas flowing into the Katy area west of Houston will be increasing sharply over the next few years, as will gas demand from new and expanding LNG export terminals near the Texas/Louisiana border. Three new pipelines with a combined capacity of 8 Bcf/d — Blackfin, Trident and Mustang Express — are being developed to move gas from Katy to the state line, but will that be enough? In today’s blog, we’ll use RBN’s Arrow Model to assess Enbridge’s recently unveiled proposal to add up to 2 Bcf/d of incremental capacity from Katy to the Gillis Hub in southwestern Louisiana.

We have blogged extensively over the past few years about three critically important and intertwined topics: fast-rising production of associated gas in the Permian, the massive buildout of new LNG export capacity along the Gulf Coast, and the frenetic development of gas pipeline capacity from Permian wells to water. Much of the discussion has focused on takeaway pipelines out of West Texas to the Agua Dulce Hub in South Texas and the Katy Hub — most recently, we looked at the record-busting plan by a WhiteWater Midstream-led consortium to build the 4.5-Bcf/d Solitude Pipeline, which will consist of twin 48-inch-diameter pipes from the Waha Hub to the Katy area.

But getting Permian gas to inland hubs like Katy and Agua Dulce — or to the Dallas/Fort Worth area, like Energy Transfer’s Hugh Brinson Pipeline — addresses only part of the challenge. The other part is, how do you get gas from there to where it’s demanded most, namely to LNG export terminals along the Gulf Coast between Port Arthur, TX, and Cameron Parish in the southwestern corner of Louisiana. Within that 40-mile stretch, about 59 MMtpa (~6.7 Bcf/d) of LNG export capacity is in operation and another 86 MMtpa (~9.4 Bcf/d) has reached a final investment decision (FID) and is either under construction or will be soon.

Sure, a sizable portion of that gas demand from existing and planned LNG export terminals will be met by the Haynesville Shale in northwestern Louisiana and northeastern Texas, but while Haynesville gas is produced at a relatively high cost, gas from the Permian is produced as a no-cost byproduct of crude oil-focused drilling and needs to find a home.

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Oil & Gas ProPermalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on Monday

That last line is my gravest concern.  As the Permian Basin grows more gassy and the Eagle Ford rate of production increases, the market will experience a surge in "associated" natural gas supply.  Supply that is cheaper than Haynesville gas.  The question is, will demand be robust enough to sustain a price that will make Haynesville gas profitable for operators?


Oil & Gas ProPermalink Reply by Rock Man on Monday

I echo your concerns as to this apparent "gas glut" and its impact on gas prices.

Another probable major gas production / resource area is the Western Haynesville / Bossier play area - although this area will be limited in areal extent (with actual boundaries still being defined), an issue that no one mentions is that there is potential for multiple benches / Hz targets within this very thick section (which ranges from 1500' to over 5000' thick). Comstock has already drilled dual benches on the same pad to better define this multiple bench target potential.

These additional benches will be HBP'd for later drilling and development - no need to spend that capital now. But having this many undrilled 25-35 MMCFPD lateral locations sitting out in the Comstock / Expand / Mitsui / Adamas et al inventory is a very real impact situation as to future gas prices.


Oil & Gas ProPermalink Reply by Rock Man on Monday

I wanted to add these comments separately from my just posted ones on the Western Haynesville / Bossier trend.

Lower gas prices for the foreseeable future will be having a big impact on smaller natural gas producers and development programs. Two that come to mind are the BKV effort in the old Barnett Shale area (major refrac effort) and the Flywheel efforts in the Fayetteville Shale of Arkansas (refracs, infill drilling). Lower prices do nothing but hamper the economics of these "less major" gas play areas.

This issue even trickles down to the smaller operator and prospect generator.

An example is a prospect that I looked at recently - very apparent gas zone behind pipe waiting on a recompletion effort. But low gas prices make the economics of this opportunity more marginal than it should be.

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