The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has denied ANRPipeline’s petition for review of a FERC ruling that permittedNautilus Pipeline to build a competing pipeline off the coast ofLouisiana.

ANR challenged the construction of the 101-mile offshorepipeline, arguing that there wasn’t sufficient capacity to justifythe Nautilus line and ANR’s proposed 37-mile loop expansion of itsexisting offshore line. It urged the Commission to consolidate thetwo proceedings and set the projects for a comparative evidentiaryhearing – requests that FERC rejected and the court upheld on March10.

ANR ships gas from several different platforms in the Gulf ofMexico off the coast of Louisiana, including Ship Shoal Block 207which receives gas from the Manta Ray Offshore Co. In September1996, the owners of Manta Ray opted to bypass ANR and proposed theconstruction of their own pipeline — Nautilus — to transporttheir gas from Ship Shoal Block 207 to the onshore pipeline grid.Quickly afterwards ANR filed an application to expand its offshoresystem and sought a comparative hearing.

In rejecting ANR’s request, the Commission found that the twooffshore projects were not necessarily mutually exclusive andapproved both projects.

“We think [FERC’s] judgment was reasonable” in denying ANR’srequest for a comparative hearing, wrote Circuit Judge LaurenceSilberman on behalf of the court.

Susan Parker

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