Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America LLC (NGPL) has officially filed with FERC for the second phase of its Gulf Coast Southbound Project, seeking to construct and operate a 300,000 Dth/d expansion focused on supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) export demand in South Texas.

NGPL on Thursday submitted a Natural Gas Act certificate application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the project, which proposes adding horsepower at existing compressor stations in Victoria, Wharton and Harrison counties in Texas [CP19-99].

NGPL also plans to construct and operate “auxiliary facilities” at compressor stations in Angelina and Cass counties, also in Texas.

Cheniere Energy Inc. subsidiary Corpus Christi Liquefaction LLC has signed a precedent agreement for the full 300,000 Dth/d of incremental firm capacity from the expansion, which is designed to allow additional volumes to move south from an existing interconnect with the Alliance Pipeline in Grundy County, IL, to a delivery point with the Cheniere Corpus Christi Pipeline LP in San Patricio County, TX. The additional capacity will supply Train 3 at the Corpus Christi LNG terminal, according to NGPL’s filing.

The Cheniere Corpus Christi Pipeline is a 23-mile, 48-inch diameter line that supplies the Houston-based exporter’s LNG terminal. During a recent earnings conference call, Cheniere management said they expect substantial completion on Train 1 at the Corpus Christi LNG export project “in the next few days” following a successful performance test. The developer is set to bring a total of three trains into commercial operations this year — the fifth train at Sabine Pass and the first two trains at Corpus Christi.

Last year, NGPL secured regulatory approval to begin service on the first phase of the Gulf Coast Southbound Project, designed to add 460,000 Dth/d of service on its Gulf Coast Mainline System.

NGPL has also been gauging interest in a third phase of the project, which would add another 260,000 Dth/d of southbound service from interconnects in the Midwest to markets along the Texas and Louisiana coasts.

NGPL plans to bring the second phase of the Gulf Coast Southbound expansion online by 1Q2021.