Canada’s Keyera completes KAPS NGL pipeline

Canadian midstream company Keyera said October 4 it had completed its Key Access Pipeline System (KAPS), a 575-km twin pipeline system delivering natural gas liquids (NGL) and condensate from the Montney and Duvernay basins to Keyera’s liquids processing and storage hub just outside Edmonton, in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland.

KAPS is operated by Keyera and equally owned with alternative investment firm Stonepeak, which specialises in infrastructure and real assets.

“KAPS is more than a pipeline, it’s truly an energy infrastructure solution that is helping to unlock partnership and prosperity through a purposeful approach,” Keyera CEO Dean Setoguchi said. “KAPS has been years in the making, and it is the platform that propels us forward and lets us focus on what we do best – supply responsibly produced Canadian energy.”

Keyera originally sanctioned KAPS in May 2019, at which time it carried an estimated capital cost of C$1.3bn and a projected in-service date in the first half of 2022. Covid restrictions and supply chain issues delayed the project and pushed the estimated capital cost to about C$2bn.

With capacity to transport 350,000 barrels/day of NGLs and condensate, KAPS provides a competitive transportation alternative that allows producers to grow natural gas production and advance Alberta’s energy industry.

“The completion of the KAPS pipeline represents a significant milestone in the expansion of natural gas production in western Canada,” Stonepeak senior managing director Anthony Borreca said. “As natural gas continues to be a key contributor to the global energy mix and energy transition, especially in East Asia, we believe that KAPS has a critical role to play.”

Stonepeak acquired its 50% interest in KAPS for C$662.5mn from a joint venture of Pembina Gas Infrastructure and KKR in a transaction announced in December 2022 and completed in April 2023.