WhiteWater-led joint venture approves Solitude Pipeline System to carry Permian gas to the Gulf Coast starting in 2029

A WhiteWater-led joint venture just gave the go-ahead to the Solitude Pipeline System—a new natural gas pipeline designed to move Permian Basin gas to the U.S. Gulf Coast. Partners include Devon Energy, MPLX, Diamondback Energy, and Western Midstream Partners. The pipeline is expected to come online in late 2029, starting with a capacity of 2.25 billion cubic feet per day.

Joint venture approves Solitude Pipeline System

The joint venture has formally approved the Solitude Pipeline System, moving it from concept to active development. The pipeline will run from the Permian Basin to demand centers along the U.S. Gulf Coast, giving producers a new route to reach downstream buyers.

That initial 2.25 Bcf/d capacity is set to come online in the second half of 2029. The timeline still depends on regulatory and other customary approvals, so some flexibility is built into that target.

Regulatory clearance is still required before the project enters service—standard for infrastructure at this scale, but a step that could affect the final timeline.

Worth flagging early: the project already has substantial long-term firm transportation agreements in place with investment-grade shippers. Locking in that kind of commercial foundation before construction even begins signals genuine market confidence in the project’s economics—not just optimism.

Why the pipeline is being built: Rising Permian gas output drives demand

The Permian Basin is the largest oil-producing region in the U.S. As crude output has grown, so has associated natural gas—the gas that comes up alongside oil during production.

That rising volume has created a real bottleneck. Existing pipeline infrastructure hasn’t kept pace, leaving producers with limited options for moving gas to market. When takeaway capacity gets tight, it pushes local gas prices down and, in some cases, leads to flaring.

Solitude is a direct response to that constraint. Gulf Coast markets—LNG export terminals and large industrial users alike—are major destinations for Permian gas, and getting gas there efficiently matters both commercially and operationally for everyone involved.

Phased expansion plan and ownership structure

Solitude isn’t being built as a single fixed-capacity system. It’s designed to scale in stages, giving the joint venture flexibility to match infrastructure buildout with actual market demand rather than betting everything on a single forecast.

Phase one delivers 2.25 Bcf/d by late 2029. Phase two, expected in 2030, adds another 2.25 Bcf/d—bringing total system capacity to around 4.5 Bcf/d. The system’s design also allows for further expansions if shipper demand keeps growing beyond that.

The ownership split brings together midstream and upstream players. WhiteWater holds the largest stake at 50%, Devon Energy follows at 25%, MPLX at 10%, and Diamondback Energy and Western Midstream Partners each hold 7.5%. That mix distributes both the capital burden and the commercial risk across the group. Regulatory clearance is still required before the project enters service—standard for infrastructure at this scale, but a step that could affect the final timeline.

Context: Permian Basin infrastructure investment trend

Solitude doesn’t exist in isolation. The Permian Basin has pulled in significant midstream investment over the past decade, driven by a straightforward dynamic: production has consistently grown faster than the infrastructure built to support it.

Multiple pipeline projects have been proposed or built to address Permian takeaway constraints over the years. Some have been completed; others delayed or restructured. That pattern reflects just how capital-intensive and time-consuming major pipeline infrastructure can be—even when the commercial case looks solid on paper.

Gulf Coast demand centers have grown increasingly important as destinations for Permian gas. LNG export terminals along the Texas and Louisiana coasts have expanded capacity in recent years, creating sustained appetite for feed gas, and industrial users in the region add further pull.

At 4.5 Bcf/d of planned total capacity, Solitude would rank among the larger natural gas pipeline additions in the Permian region—a scale that reflects both the ambition behind the project and the size of the supply gap the partners are trying to close.

An unusual degree of commercial certainty at this stage

A WhiteWater-led joint venture—with Devon Energy, MPLX, Diamondback Energy, and Western Midstream Partners as co-owners—has formally approved the project and secured long-term firm transportation agreements with investment-grade shippers before construction starts.

The pipeline will move Permian Basin natural gas to U.S. Gulf Coast demand centers. Phase one targets 2.25 Bcf/d of capacity in the second half of 2029; phase two, expected in 2030, would double that to 4.5 Bcf/d total. Further expansions beyond phase two are also built into the system’s design.

Customary regulatory and other approvals are still required before the pipeline can enter service. That’s a standard part of the process for major infrastructure—and it means the 2029 target carries some uncertainty.

Zooming out, Solitude is the latest in a series of midstream investments aimed at keeping Permian Basin gas infrastructure in step with rising production. It connects one of the country’s most prolific producing regions to the Gulf Coast markets that need it most.

Kelly Lippke

Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.