Piñon Midstream Commissions Amine Train III, Receives Air Permit

On May 8, 2024, Piñon Midstream placed the 450-GPM Amine Train III into operation at its sour natural gas treating and carbon-capture facility—the Dark Horse Treating Facility in Lea County, NM. The company also obtained an NSR air permit to allow for the execution of additional capital expansion projects at the Dark Horse facility, such as constructing two cryogenic processing plants and Amine Trains IV, V, and VI.

The new amine-treating unit increased Dark Horse’s sour natural gas treating capacity by 50% to approximately 270 MMcf/d. The facility totals 1,350 GPM of amine treating and two Devonian acid gas injection wells in operation—each has a depth of about 18,000 feet and are permitted for 20 MMscf/d of acid gas injection. Dark Horse operations began in August 2021, and since then Piñon has captured and sequestered more than 225,000 metric tons of CO₂ and H₂S in the Delaware Basin.

Dark Horse Treating Facility; Image Credits: Pinon Midstream

“With the recent receipt of the NSR permit, Piñon is well-positioned to significantly expand our sour gas treating and carbon capture operations within the Delaware Basin,” said Piñon CEO Steven Green. “This important milestone underscores our mission to unlock substantial acreage across the Delaware Basin while improving the environmental impact of oil & gas production.”

The recently approved NSR air permit includes the following incremental infrastructure and expansions:

• Three additional 900 GPM amine treating units, each with a capacity up to 220 MMscf/d.
• Two cryogenic processing plants with a total permitted processing capacity of 460 MMscf/d.
• Three TEG dehydrators for new amine treating units.
• One 10,000 BBL/d condensate stabilizer.
• 4,400 barrels of storage capacity.

In addition to the commissioning of Amine Train III, recent facility expansions include new sour gas gathering and gas lift pipelines, a 15,000-horsepower compressor station, and interconnects for downstream processors. In April, Piñon expanded its sour natural gas gathering system with the addition of about five miles of NACE-compliant 16” high-pressure steel pipeline. The 15,000 hp Comanche Peak Compressor Station is the company’s fifth NACE-compliant station along the upgraded pipeline.

The Grande sweet gas pipeline system consists of approximately 22 miles of 20” high-pressure steel pipe and connects the Dark Horse Treating Facility to multiple downstream processors, offering customers processing variability for treated natural gas. Piñon also signed a sixth interconnect agreement with a downstream processor, increasing downstream takeaway and processing capacity to more than 500 MMcf/d.

In June 2023, Piñon Midstream announced these planned expansions for the Dark Horse Treating Facility, including the amine treating unit, pipeline expansions, compressor stations, and more. The recently commissioned second AGI well, Independence AGI 2, boosts the treated AGI capacity to 20 MMcf/d. This added capacity is enough to handle up to 500 MMcf/d of treating capacity at the Dark Horse facility. In continuation, this ensures operational redundancy to maintain high runtimes while reducing flaring. Piñon's sour natural gas treating system in New Mexico now has the state's highest AGI injection capacity among all permitted active systems.