NOVA Chemicals Corp. announced in a June 13 statement that the first barrels of ethane from natural gas associated with Bakken Shale oil production were utilized at its Joffre, Alberta, complex.

The ethane was produced at Hess Corp.’s Tioga, N.D., plant and transported into Alberta via the Vantage Pipeline, which connects to the Alberta Ethane Gathering System (AEGS) in Empress, Alberta. NOVA Chemicals is contracted to operate both the AEGS and the Vantage Pipeline.

The pipeline currently has a transportation capacity of 40,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) but is expandable to transport more than 60,000 bbl/d, which amounts to 20% of Alberta’s existing ethylene production capacity. Ethane extracted from gas produced in the Bakken Shale is expected to be a growing feedstock supply source for the Alberta petrochemical industry.