Summit Investments Provides Commercial and Operational Update on Meadowlark and Red Rock Gathering Systems

DALLAS, Nov. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Summit Midstream Partners, LLC ("Summit Investments"), the privately held company that owns and controls the general partner of Summit Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE: SMLP) and also owns a 71.6% limited partner interest in SMLP, today provided a commercial and an operational update for its Meadowlark Midstream Company, LLC ("Meadowlark") and Red Rock Gathering Company, LLC ("Red Rock") assets.

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Meadowlark is comprised of two crude oil and water gathering systems, the Divide Crude Oil & Water Gathering System (the "Divide System") and the Polar Crude Oil & Water Gathering System (the "Polar System"), both of which are located in the Bakken Shale Play in North Dakota, and an associated natural gas gathering and processing system, the Niobrara Gathering & Processing System (the "Niobrara System"), located in the Denver-Julesburg Basin in Weld County, Colorado.  Red Rock is a natural gas gathering and processing system located in the Piceance and Uinta basins with over 1,475 miles of gathering pipeline, processing assets and two NGL injection stations.

Divide System Update - In October 2013, Summit Investments commenced the start-up of the Divide System located in Williams and Divide counties in North Dakota.  The Divide System is designed to gather 70,000 barrels of crude oil and 120,000 barrels of water per day. There are several large independent producers that have contracted capacity on the Divide System under long-term, fee-based gathering arrangements. The build-out and completion of the Divide System will continue into the first half of 2014. 

Polar System Update - Summit Investments announced today a significant expansion of the Polar System located in Williams County, North Dakota.  In addition to the existing 50 miles of crude oil and 35 miles of water gathering pipeline, Summit Investments will construct 45 miles of new crude oil gathering pipeline to service an independent producer that is actively drilling and producing in the area.  Pro forma for this expansion, the Polar System will be capable of handling 100,000 barrels of crude oil and 30,000 barrels of water per day.  The expansion is supported by a new 10-year, fee-based crude oil gathering agreement covering over 30,000 dedicated acres. The expansion is expected to be in service in the third quarter of 2014.

Niobrara System Update - In September 2013, Summit Investments commenced the start-up of the Niobrara System located in Weld County, Colorado. The Niobrara System comprises 89 miles of low-pressure gathering pipeline and a 20 MMcf/d cryogenic processing plant and interconnects with Colorado Interstate Gas for its residue gas.  Processed NGLs are ultimately delivered to Conway, Kansas through an interconnect with the Overland Pass Pipeline.  Natural gas received on the Niobrara System is gathered and processed under long-term, fee-based gathering agreements with several producers, including a large independent producer serving as the anchor customer under a 10 year, fee-based contract.

Red Rock Update - Summit Investments announced today a new, long-term agreement with a large independent producer whereby the producer will process a portion of Red Rock's gathered natural gas at its 60 MMcf/d cryogenic processing plant located in western Colorado.  This agreement will increase the NGL recoveries from Red Rock's volume throughput.  With the execution of this agreement, Red Rock will decommission its North Douglas processing plant which will significantly reduce operational expenses.

Red Rock is continuing to develop the 20 MMcf/d cryogenic DeBeque processing plant which will process liquids-rich Mancos shale production under a long-term, fee-based agreement with Black Hills Exploration & Production, Inc.  The DeBeque plant is on schedule to commence operations by the end of 2013. 

Steve Newby, President and CEO of Summit Investments commented, "We are excited to bring these important development projects online at Summit Investments.  I want to commend our team for their continued focus on executing our large project backlog and bringing these development projects in service on time and on budget.  Because of their strategic location in some of the most active basins in North America, we anticipate significant additional growth opportunities around these assets in the future." 

"The agreement to consolidate our processing operations into a larger, more efficient facility, and decommissioning of our North Douglas facility at Red Rock will lead to reduced operating costs for Summit Investments and higher NGL recoveries for our Red Rock customers.  

The continued organic growth and optimization of these assets at Summit Investments provides additional scale to our already large inventory of future drop down opportunities at SMLP."

About Summit Midstream Partners, LLC
Summit Midstream Partners, LLC is a growth-oriented midstream energy company focused on owning and operating midstream energy infrastructure assets that are strategically located in the core areas of unconventional resource basins, primarily shale formations, in North America.  Through its ownership of (i) Summit Midstream GP, LLC, the general partner of Summit Midstream Partners, LP; (ii) a 71.6% limited partner interest in Summit Midstream Partners, LP; (iii) Red Rock Gathering Company, LLC; and (iv) Meadowlark Midstream Company, LLC, Summit Investments provides primarily fee-based natural gas gathering, treating, processing, and compression services, as well as crude oil and water gathering services supporting some of the largest oil and gas exploration and production companies in North America.  Summit Investments has operations in the Piceance Basin in western Colorado, the Uinta Basin in eastern Utah, the Williston Basin in northwestern North Dakota, and the Denver-Julesburg Basin in northeastern Colorado.  Summit Investments is headquartered in Dallas, TX with offices in Houston, TX, Denver, CO and Atlanta, GA.  

Summit Investments was formed in 2009 by members of management and funds controlled by Energy Capital Partners II, LLC.  Together with its affiliates, Energy Capital Partners is a private equity firm with over $8 billion in capital commitments that is focused on investing in North America's energy infrastructure.  In August 2011, Energy Capital Partners sold an interest in Summit Investments to GE Energy Financial Services.  GE Energy Financial Services invests globally in essential, long-lived and capital-intensive energy assets.

For more information, visit Summit's website at www.summitmidstream.com, Energy Capital Partners at www.ecpartners.com and GE Energy Financial Services at www.geenergyfinancialservices.com.

SOURCE Summit Midstream Partners, LLC