The U.S. Department of State has given its thumbs-up to two proposed pipelines designed to carry natural gas from the United States into Mexico, according to filings at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In separate letters, the agency said it had reviewed applications for the Trans-Pecos Pipeline and the Comanche Trail Pipeline with a focus on their foreign policy implications, and “has no objections to the issuance of the proposed presidential permit” in either case. As planned, Trans-Pecos would operate as an intrastate pipeline, according to developers Energy Transfer Partners LP and Mexico’s Carso (see Daily GPI, July 27). It would have capacity of 1.3 Bcf/d and have interconnects with other intrastate pipelines and processing plants at or near Waha, TX, and in the surrounding area. Interconnections with area interstate pipelines also are planned. Comanche, proposed by Comanche Trail Pipeline LLC, is planned as a 196-mile, 42-inch diameter intrastate pipeline that would originate in Pecos County, TX, and terminate at a proposed border crossing in El Paso County, TX (see Daily GPI, Aug. 4).