MarkWest Utica EMG, L.L.C., a joint venture between MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P. and The Energy and Minerals Group (EMG), is announcing an additional expansion of its large-scale midstream system to support the rapidly growing drilling programs of Antero Resources (Antero), Gulfport Energy Corporationand other producers in the southern core of the Utica Shale. MarkWest Utica EMG will now construct a third 200 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) cryogenic gas processing facility at its Seneca processing complex in Noble County, Ohio. 

The Seneca complex continues to expand and will include three processing plants totaling 600 MMcf/d. The first two plants are scheduled to begin operations during the fourth quarter of 2013 and will support rich-gas production from a number of key producers including Antero, Gulfport, Rex Energy, PDC Energy, Consol Energy and others. In addition to the Seneca I facility, Antero’s rich-gas production will also anchor the Seneca III facility, and MarkWest Utica EMG expects the plant to be operational in early second quarter of 2014. Antero is a premier operator in the Northeast and is quickly developing its significant acreage position in areas surrounding the Seneca complex. 

MarkWest Utica EMG is also developing the Cadiz complex in Harrison County, Ohio, which is anchored by Gulfport. Gulfport is successfully executing on its significant drilling program and continues to report very strong well results and rapidly growing production. In the past two weeks MarkWest Utica EMG began operations of the first major cryogenic processing facility in eastern Ohio, the 125 MMcf/d Cadiz I plant. The Cadiz complex currently has 185 MMcf/d of processing capacity, which includes a 60 MMcf/d interim refrigeration plant. The capacity at Cadiz will increase to 325 MMcf/d by mid-2014 with the completion of Cadiz II, a 200 MMcf/d plant and the removal of the Cadiz interim plant. The Cadiz and Seneca complexes will be connected by a rich-gas header that will provide Utica producers with unparalleled redundancy and reliability. 

In just over a year, MarkWest Utica EMG has executed agreements with seven producers developing acreage in the southern core of the Utica Shale. By mid-2014 MarkWest Utica EMG’s fully integrated midstream system in the Utica Shale will consist of more than three-hundred miles of gathering pipeline, five processing facilities totaling almost 1 billion cubic feet per day and 100,000 barrels per day (Bbl/d) of C2+ fractionation capacity. The joint venture’s midstream system will also be connected to MarkWest’s expansive Marcellus NGL infrastructure.