Natural Gas Processing Plant (US)

Practical Law Glossary Item w-026-1618 (Approx. 3 pages)

Glossary

Natural Gas Processing Plant (US)

Also referred to as a gas processing plant, these facilities are a key part the natural gas value chain. These plants process and purify raw natural gas received from gathering pipelines to remove water, sulfur, and impurities and separate natural gas liquids (NGLs) from the raw feed gas.

This process produces:

Pipeline quality natural gas that can enter the pipeline network for delivery to various destinations (liquefied natural gas facilities, storage facilities, local distribution companies, power plants, and other end users).
Mixed NGLs that are delivered to fractionation plants to produce ethane, propane, butane, and pentanes.

The processing that takes place at gas processing plants is in addition to the processing that can take place at or near the wellhead.

For more information on these plants and gas processing generally, see:

Practice Note, Gas Processing Agreements: Overview.
Practice Note, Understanding the US LNG Value and Process Chain.
Natural Gas Process and Value Chain Checklist.
Standard Document, Gas Processing Agreement.

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