Magellan Midstream Partners L.P. confirmed last week that it has begun hydrotests on its anhydrous ammonia pipeline from Borger, Texas, to Partridge, Kan. The tests began on May 17, and will keep that stretch of the 1,100-mile ammonia pipeline system out of operation until August.
Magellan reported earlier this year (GM Feb. 22, p. 9) that it would be conducting hydrotests of certain segments of its ammonia pipeline system beginning this spring and concluding next fall to “complement federal regulatory requirements.” Hydrotesting involves emptying the pipeline in sections and filling those segments with pressurized water to locate leaks or defects.
Magellan’s ammonia pipeline delivers ammonia from production facilities in Borger, Texas, and Enid and Verdigris, Okla., to terminals throughout the Midwest before ending in Mankato, Minn. Bruce Heine, Magellan’s media relations contact, told Green Markets that all other segments of the system are currently operational, but the company will be conducting additional integrity testing throughout the summer and early fall.
Magellan notified ammonia shippers earlier this year of its plans and schedule for the tests. Agrium Inc., which owns the Borger ammonia production facility, alerted customers in March that it anticipated no “negative impact to product availability” at the company’s terminals in Borger, Homestead, Neb., Early, Iowa, and Garner, Iowa.
“As the testing process can and will be very dynamic, we will give advance notice as to when and which terminals will be affected,” Agrium said in the notice. “Agrium’s commitment will be to work with all of our customers to ensure that product will be available to them when terminal points are out-of-service.” Agrium said at that time that the pipeline hydrotests would tentatively be completed by the middle of October.
Industry sources told Green Markets that the testing schedule was determined so ammonia supplies would not be impacted for the heavy application period during spring planting. One source speculated that supply issues may still crop up as the pipeline segments go down in the summer and fall, however. “It’ll be longer hauls, and trucks will be tougher to find in mid-July and August for the wheat run,” he said.
Magellan recently reported that anhydrous ammonia volumes on the pipeline were up 35 percent during the first quarter ending March 31, 2010, to 167,000 st, compared to the year-ago 124,000 st (GM May 10, p. 9).