Blue Racer Plans Barge Operations in WV in Third Quarter

The State Journal
15 June 2016
By Jim Ross

Blue Racer Midstream, a natural gas and natural gas liquids processing facility in northern West Virginia, will begin barge transport of its products later this year.

Blue Racer CEO Stephen L. Arata said the company will begin moving product on the Ohio River sometime in the third quarter. He confirmed the timetable in response to a query following his company’s presentation at a recent Utica Shale conference at Canton, Ohio.

Company spokesmen were not ready to discuss details of the company’s plans to transport its raw materials or products by barge.

According to the company’s website, natural gas liquids currently are transported from the complex at Natrium, on the Wetzel and Marshall county lines, to downstream markets via rail, truck and pipeline. The addition of barge shipments on the Ohio River will make the Natrium complex the only fractionation facility to offer barge service to Utica Shale producers, the company said.

Blue Racer is a joint venture formed in December 2012 by Caiman Energy II and Dominion to own, operate, develop and acquire midstream assets in the Utica Shale and certain adjacent areas in the Marcellus Shale. Blue Racer provides natural gas gathering, compression, dehydrating, treating, processing and transportation services and NGL fractionation and transportation services. Blue Racer also gathers, stabilizes and transports condensate.