El Paso Natural Gas (EPNG) is an American company and a 10,140-mile pipeline system consisting of a system of

natural gas pipeline A pipeline is a system of pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries around the world. The Un ...

s that brings gas from the Permian Basin in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and the

San Juan Basin The San Juan Basin is a geologic structural basin located near the Four Corners region of the Southwestern United States. The basin covers 7,500 square miles and resides in northwestern New Mexico, southwestern Colorado, and parts of Utah a ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

to West Texas,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. It also exports some natural gas to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. El Paso Natural Gas is based in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

and is owned by Kinder Morgan, Inc. of

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

History

Historically, EPNG's primary market was California, though the growth of competing pipelines into that market and lack of increased demand since 2001 has led to a decrease in its business there, especially in Southern California. At the same time, EPNG's shipping into Arizona has increased, largely because it was the only pipeline into the fast-growing Phoenix area until the

TransWestern Transwestern is a privately held real estate firm providing Agency Leasing, Tenant Advisory, Capital Markets, Asset Services and Research to owners of commercial real estate. Additionally, they have expertise in development and investment managem ...

Phoenix Lateral came in service Q1 2009. Its largest customers are: * Kinder Morgan Building Houston

Southern California Gas Company The Southern California Gas Company (trading as SoCalGas) is a utility company based in Los Angeles, California, and a subsidiary of Sempra. It is the primary provider of natural gas to Los Angeles and Southern California. Overview Its headqu ...

Sempra Energy Sempra is a North American public utility holding company based in San Diego, California. The company is one of the largest utility holding companies in the United States with nearly 40 million consumers. Sempra's focus is on electric and natur ...

subsidiary); *

Southwest Gas Corporation Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. () is an investor-owned utility based in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. The company provides natural gas service to over 2 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers in parts of Arizona, Nevada, and ...

; and *

Pacific Gas and Electric Company The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered at Kaiser Center, in Oakland, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 million households in the norther ...

. Its

FERC The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates the interstate transmission and wholesale sale of electricity and natural gas and regulates the prices of interstate transpor ...

code is 33. October 1945: In light of depletion of reserves in California by the war and expected future growth. EPNG proposed building 720 miles of 26-inch pipeline ($19.8m) to supply California markets with gas from the Permian Basin in

Lea County, New Mexico Lea County (, ) is a county located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 census, its population was 74,455. Its county seat is Lovington. It is both west and north of the Texas state line. Lea County comprises the Hobbs, NM micro ...

, work to be finished in the spring or summer of 1947. Line were to end at the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

where it was to connect to the

system. Additionally planned were 117 miles (24-inch), 32 miles (18-inch) and 14.5 miles (14-inch) of gathering pipelines ($3.4m), a 105,000,000 cubic feet/day compressor station, dehydration and purification plant at

Jal, New Mexico Jal () is a small city located in Lea County, New Mexico, Lea County, New Mexico, United States. It is New Mexico's south-easternmost city, and shares a border with Texas to the east and south. The population was 2,047 at the 2010 United States C ...

($2.2m). A limit of 300,000,000 cubic feet/day with additional compressor stations. total cost $25.4m. The line became operational on 13 November 1947. In the 1970s, EPNG became the El Paso Company. In 1983, the company was acquired by Burlington Northern, Inc.. In 1992, Burlington spun off the company as a publicly traded corporation. In 1996 and 1999, the company purchased Tenneco Energy from

Tenneco Tenneco, Inc. (formerly Tenneco Automotive and originally Tennessee Gas Transmission Company) is an American automotive components original equipment manufacturer and an aftermarket ride control and emissions products manufacturer. It is a ''F ...

Tenneco Agrees to Sell Energy Unit to El Paso - WSJ and Sonat, Inc., respectively.

Innovations

The company pioneered: *

High-pressure In science and engineering the study of high pressure examines its effects on materials and the design and construction of devices, such as a diamond anvil cell, which can create high pressure. ''High pressure'' usually means pressures of thousan ...

, long-distance pipelines * Innovative pipeline-welding methods * The of use large, gas-turbine-driven centrifugal compressors. * Treating natural gas to remove

impurities In chemistry and materials science, impurities are chemical substances inside a confined amount of liquid, gas, or solid. They differ from the chemical composition of the material or compound. Firstly, a pure chemical should appear in at least on ...

. For many years, the company had more gas-treating capacity than all of other interstate pipelines combined. In 1967, El Paso joined with the federal agencies to test the use of a nuclear device to fracture or create fractures in gas-bearing formations: *

United States Atomic Energy Commission The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by the U.S. Congress to foster and control the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. President Harry ...

* Bureau of Mines of the

Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relatin ...

The experiment, called Project Gasbuggy, was considered a success in terms of its objectives. However, it was considered not to be commercially feasible.

Pipelines

Tennessee Gas Pipeline Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGPL) is a set of natural gas pipelines that run from the Texas and Louisiana coast through Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to deliver natural gas in West Virginia, New Jersey, Ne ...

: Acquired by EPNG in 1996. * Ruby Pipeline: In 2010, created as a subsidiary and as a planned partnership with

Global Infrastructure Partners Global Infrastructure Partners, LLC (GIP) is an American infrastructure investment fund making equity and selected debt investments across markets worldwide. GIP's main headquarters are located in New York City and its equity investments are bas ...

(GIP) and

Pacific Gas & Electric The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered at Kaiser Center, in Oakland, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 million households in the norther ...

. However, the Ruby Pipeline filed for bankruptcy in 2022.

References

External links

Pipeline Electronic Bulletin Board
* {{Authority control Natural gas companies of the United States Kinder Morgan Natural gas pipelines in the United States Natural gas pipelines in Mexico Companies based in Colorado Springs, Colorado Energy in Colorado Energy in New Mexico Petroleum in California Petroleum in Texas American companies established in 1928 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1928 1928 establishments in Colorado Natural gas pipelines in Texas Natural gas pipelines in New Mexico Natural gas pipelines in Colorado Natural gas pipelines in Nevada Natural gas pipelines in California Natural gas pipelines in Arizona

History

Innovations

Pipelines

See also

References

External links