The outlook for natural gas prices in the Rocky Mountain region is as bright as it has been in decades, says Stuart Wagner, Denver-based principal with Petrie Parkman & Co. "It seems clear that the Rockies are finally having their day in the sun with rising volumes and close to normal basis spreads likely for the foreseeable future." The reasons: another expansion of the Kern River pipeline, the imminent construction of the new Cheyenne Plains line, and several longer-range proposals for new lines running both east and west from the region's prolific gas-supply basins. The Kern River pipeline, which recently completed an expansion of 900 million cubic feet per day, now plans to hold an open season for an additional 500 million per day. That capacity could be in service in 2006, although Wagner notes that the expansion will require much more than just increased compression, including substantial looping in the Salt Lake City area. Kern River presently carries 1.7 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas per day from Opal, Wyoming, westward to California markets. Cheyenne Plains, a pipeline project operated by Colorado Interstate Gas (a subsidiary of El Paso), is to move 540 million cubic feet of gas per day from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to southeastern Kansas. Construction will start in the second half of 2004, and first gas is expected to flow in August 2005. Yet, CIG is already considering an expansion from the line's current 30-inch design to a 36-inch design. A 30-inch line has a maximum capacity of 1 Bcf per day, while a 36-inch line can carry as much as 1.7 Bcf per day, with full compression. Other proposals on the table for the region include Kinder Morgan's Silver Canyon line, which would move gas from Blanco, New Mexico, to Phoenix and Las Vegas. The same firm is also holding an open season on its Advantage pipeline, which is proposed to deliver gas from the hub at Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Kansas. That line, with a proposed capacity of 800 million cubic feet per day, has the participation of Nicor, the Chicago-area utility. Additionally, Southern Star, formerly the Williams Central System, has proposed a line in the same area. And, TransColorado, an existing pipeline that carries gas from Colorado's Western Slope area to the Blanco hub, is reportedly gauging customer interest in expansion. That line has been chock full of Piceance Basin gas for the last 18 months. "If Cheyenne Plains lays a 36-inch line and Kern River is once again expanded, 2.6 Bcf per day of takeaway potential will be added in Wyoming, an approximate 50% increase to current takeaway capacity," says Wagner. -Peggy Williams