If all goes according to plan, December could prove a Christmas to remember for Permian producers with a ticket to ride on the Matterhorn Pipeline sleigh. The 490-mile, 2.65 BCFD Matterhorn will transport orphan gas supplies from the Waha Hub to the Katy area outside of Houston and on to Gulf Coast markets and LNG export facilities, loosening the pipeline stranglehold growing ever tighter in the nation’s largest oil field. Matterhorn has announced a small amount of gas now flowing ahead of its big debut. A tease, yes, but joy lies ahead. Once the line is pronounced fully in service, Waha gas prices are expected to bounce back into positive territory. Jingle bells aside, I think we can all agree this is music to our ears.

Reese Energy Consulting today is following the latest pipeline news in this neck of the woods, where five other Permian projects either await FID or are moving to the development stage. These include Targa Resource’s Apex, Energy Transfer’s Warrior, Kinder Morgan’s expansion of its Natural Gas Pipeline of America system, ONEOK’s expansion of its West Texas NGL pipeline, and Moss Lake Partners’ Dela Express.

But don’t underestimate the pipeline activity heating up in the Haynesville to open a bigger throat to flow more gas to Gulf Coast LNG export plants. Here, Williams’ Louisiana Energy Gateway will add 1.8 BCFD of capacity by 2Q 2025. Momentum Midstream’s 1.7 BCFD NG3 pipeline is on track for service in 4Q 2025, which will allow anchor Chesapeake Energy to move 700 MMCFD to the Gillis Hub. And there are more Haynesville new build projects and brownfield expansions on the whiteboard to eventually feed Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG terminal and ExxonMobil‘s Golden Pass. Stay tuned.