US Kinder Morgan starts up Utopia ethane pipeline to Canada

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Kinder Morgan has begun ethane product delivery on its Utopia pipeline from Harrison County, Ohio, to Windsor in Canada’s Ontario province, the US energy infrastructure major said on Tuesday.

The 270-mile Utica-to-Ontario-Pipeline-Access (Utopia) system provides ethane takeaway capacity from the Utica shale to petrochemicals producers, including firms at the Sarnia petrochemicals hub near Windsor in southern Ontario.

Canada-based NOVA Chemicals said previously it would receive feedstock from UTOPIA.

The pipeline has an initial capacity of 50,000 bbl/day, with possible expansion to more than 75,000 bbl/day.

“The [Kinder Morgan] project team, in coordination with local, state and federal agencies, has done a tremendous job developing a project that provides ethane takeaway capacity from the Utica shale to the growing petrochemical industry,” said Don Lindley, president of natural gas liquids, products Pipelines, at Kinder Morgan.