Rex Energy plans to expand capacity in Butler County
STATE COLLEGE – Oil and gas exploration and production company Rex Energy said Tuesday it signed agreements with MarkWest Energy Partners that will expand the company’s natural gas processing capacity in its Butler operating area.
Rex Energy said in a news release MarkWest will increase the total processing capacity available in the Butler Operated Area through the construction of the Bluestone III and Bluestone IV processing and fractionation facilities at its Keystone Complex. The Bluestone III facility, expected to be commissioned during the fourth quarter of 2015, will bring Rex’s total priority processing capacity in the Butler operating area to 280 million cubic feet per day. In addition, the company secured incremental processing capacity above the 280 MMcf/d based upon plant performance and unused capacity of other operators.
The Bluestone IV processing facility is expected to be commissioned during the second quarter of 2016 and will add 125 MMcf/d of priority processing capacity, increasing the company’s total priority processing capacity to 405 MMcf/d.
The new arrangements also provide that MarkWest will install additional fractionation facilities at the Keystone Complex, and Rex Energy has the right to incremental priority processing capacity in future expansions at the MarkWest Keystone complex.
“The recently announced Shell transaction will significantly expand our Butler Operated Area, and we are excited to partner with MarkWest to support our growth with this increased processing and fractionation capacity,” said Tom Stabley, chief executive officer of Rex Energy.
Stabley said the agreements will position the company to execute its development plans for both its legacy acreage and the new Shell acreage in the Butler area.
Rex Energy, headquartered in State College, is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company operating in the Appalachian and Illinois basins.