Greenfield Gas Processing Facility in Colorado Supports Continued Development of Niobrara Shale

Black & Veatch, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Overland Contracting Inc. (OCI), was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the O’Connor Gas Processing Plant (formerly known as LaSalle), owned by DCP Midstream Partners. The plant was designed for an initial capacity of 110 million cubic feet per day (MMCF/D), and before completion, Black & Veatch was awarded a second EPC contract to expand the plant to 160 MMCF/D.

The project was built on part of a 160-acre greenfield site, located just southwest of Kersey, Colorado. The plant removes contaminants from raw natural gas to produce a pipeline-quality gas product, as well as recover valuable natural gas liquids (NGLs) and condensate. Expanding DCP Midstream Partners’ gathering system capacity also allows the DCP enterprise to further support Niobrara Shale development.

Black & Veatch completed a pre-Front End Engineering Design study for the facility in 2010, and in 2011, DCP Midstream retained Black & Veatch to provide a more detailed design and cost estimate. An open book estimating approach was used which resulted in a reliable, cost-competitive EPC contract that OCI would execute. This approach minimized completion time from the detailed estimate to commercial operation.

As a result of working closely with the client, and despite record snow and rain in the north central Colorado area, commercial operation was reached 18 months after EPC contract award. The plant began processing natural gas just two weeks after it was mechanically complete.

Phase 1 of the project was performance tested in late 2013 and the phase 2 expansion to 160 MMCF/D was performance tested in May 2014.

Specific significant aspects of the project include: amine and molecular sieve dehydration inlet treating; NGL recovery and refrigeration; and gas compression.

Expanding DCP Midstream Partners' gathering system capacity to 160 MMCF/D allows the DCP enterprise to further support Niobrara Shale development.