FERC last Thursday approved two related expansions proposed by Texas Eastern Transmission (Tetco) to carry 455,000 Dth/d of Rocky Mountain natural gas to Northeast markets.

The Texas Eastern Market Area Crossing (TEMAX) expansion would provide an additional 395,000 Dth/d of natural gas transportation capacity from a receipt point with the Rockies Express Pipeline LLC (REX) system in Clarington, OH, the termination point for the 1,678-mile REX system, to an interconnect with Transcontinental Pipe Line (Transco) at the terminus of Tetco’s proposed 29-mile Marietta Extension in York County, PA [CP09-68].

The Texas Eastern Incremental Market Area Expansion III (TIME III) project would provide additional transportation capacity of 60,000 Dth/d from a receipt point in Oakford, PA, to the Transco interconnect (see NGI, Sept. 14). The projected in-service date for both expansions is November 2010, according to Tetco, a subsidiary of Spectra Energy.

Tetco said it has negotiated rate agreements for the entire capacity of the TEMAX project and all but 5,000 Dth/d of the capacity of the TIME III project. The proposed Marietta Extension, which would extend from Tetco’s Marietta Compressor Station to the proposed Transco interconnect, has 409,000 Dth/d of its 864,000 Dth/d capacity unsubscribed, Tetco said.

In addition to the Marietta Extension, the projects call for the replacement of 25.9 miles of various diameter pipeline, construction of 9.6 miles of loop, the addition of 93,933 hp of compression and uprate compression hp at four existing compressor stations and the abandonment of 9,500 hp at one compressor station.

Tetco also proposes to uprate the maximum allowable operating pressure from 1,000 pounds per square inch gauge (psig) to 1,112 psig of approximately 268 miles of existing pipeline extending from Tetco’s Uniontown Compressor Station in Fayette County, PA, to its Marietta Compressor Station.

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