FERC has issued a certificate of convenience and necessity to Florida Gas Transmission (FGT) for its East-West Project, which would add laterals to its system to serve demand in the Gulf Coast, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities.

FGT must complete the $68.9 million project and make it available for service within two years and comply with several environmental conditions, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said in an order issued Thursday [CP17-8].

When it filed the East-West Project at FERC 18 months ago, FGT said it had agreements with JERA Energy America LLC (formerly Chubu US Gas Trading LLC) and Shell Energy North America (US) LP to provide 100,000 MMBtu/d and 175,000 MMBtu/d of transportation capacity, respectively. JERA and Shell Energy North America are active in LNG markets. The project would create an average of 275,000 MMBtu/d, FGT told FERC.

In a Feb. 12 letter to FERC, FGT said it was “vital” that it receive a certificate for the project as soon as possible because “current supplies of natural gas to the Motiva plant near Port Arthur, TX (the largest gasoline refinery in the United States) will perform pipeline integrity testing in the summer of 2018 that will require its pipelines to be removed from service and hydro-tested. In order to ensure that service to this strategic and vital refinery is not interrupted, the East-West Project must be in-service by that time.”

Construction of the project should take about three months, FGT said.

East-West would add 25.2 miles of laterals and connection pipeline, four metering stations, auxiliary and appurtenant facilities, and it would modify station piping at one compressor station. The project is in the pipeline’s Western Division in the Texas Gulf Coast market.

In Acadiana Parish, LA, the project would create the Eunice-ANR Lateral and a metering and regulating (M&R) receipt point. In Calcasieu Parish, LA, it would create the Gillis-Trunkline M&R receipt point. In Jefferson County, TX, it would create the Port Arthur Lateral and Port Arthur-Motiva M&R delivery point; and in Matagorda and Wharton counties, TX, it would create the Wilson Lateral and Wilson-Coastal Bend M&R delivery point.

Station piping and valves in the yard of existing Compressor Station 6 on FGT’s 24-inch diameter mainline in Orange County, TX, are included in the East-West plans to enable bi-directional flow on the mainline, according to FERC’s order.

East-West would offer service from the two proposed receipt points and one existing receipt point in Louisiana to two proposed points of delivery interconnected with FGT’s existing system in Texas. The proposed facilities are designed to deliver 175,000 MMBtu/d and 100,000 MMBtu/d of gas to the Port Arthur-Motiva and Wilson-Coastal Bend delivery points, respectively.

Additional capacity was offered during a binding open season, but FGT told the Commission it did not receive any additional commitments.