Texas Eastern Transmission LP (Tetco) said it has nearly completed construction of its Ohio Pipeline Energy Network (OPEN) project and asked FERC for permission to put part of the system into service early, as requested by the project’s four anchor shippers deployed in the Marcellus and Utica shales.

The OPEN project will have 550,000 Dth/d of transport capacity, and will flow from the Tetco mainline interconnects in southwest Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio to delivery points along its system in Mississippi and Louisiana. The project calls for about 76 miles of new 30-inch diameter mainline pipeline and associated facilities across Ohio, with nearly half of the pipeline constructed either within or adjacent to existing transmission line or pipeline right-of-way.

The project [CP14-68] received a favorable environmental assessment from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in August 2014, and was ultimately approved by the Commission in December (see Daily GPI, Dec. 4, 2014; Aug. 25, 2014).

On Sept. 4, Tetco, a unit of Spectra Energy Partners LP, asked FERC for permission to place part of the OPEN project’s mainline capacity into service — ideally by Friday, Sept. 11 — so it could meet a request by the shippers to move forward by Tuesday, Sept. 15. The company sent FERC additional information to bolster its request on Thursday, Sept. 10.

Specifically, Tetco told FERC that it had completed reverse flow modifications and restored disturbed areas at its Berne Compressor Station in Monroe County, OH, and was nearly finished with the same work at its Tompkinsville Compressor Station in Monroe County, KY. Tetco said it anticipates completing construction along the entire project in October and hopes to enter the entire project into service by Nov. 1.

If approved, the segment of OPEN’s mainline that would enter service would extend from Berne to a point east of Tetco’s Gillis Compressor Station, which is in Louisiana.

“Tetco anticipates that service utilizing the entire OPEN project, including the Ohio Extension, will commence on Nov. 1,” Spectra spokesman Arthur Diestel told NGI on Friday. It was unclear how quickly the OPEN system would be filled to capacity, through either redirection by shippers or by increased production from the Marcellus and Utica.

The four anchor shippers are Chesapeake Energy Marketing Inc., which is contracted for 350,000 Dth/d, followed by Total Gas & Power North America (100,000 Dth/d), Rice Energy Marketing and CNX Gas Co. LLC (each 50,000 Dth/d). According to FERC documents, the shippers have agreed to pay negotiated rates for primary terms of 15 or 20 years [RP15-1195 and RP15-1196].