FERC has approved Tres Palacios Gas Storage LLC’s plan to provide firm natural gas wheeling services at market-based rates utilizing its storage cavern and header facilities, which are connected to 10 Gulf Coast inter- and intrastate pipelines.

Tres Palacios has been providing firm and interruptible storage services and interruptible wheeling services. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s order allows it to add firm wheeling, the ability to move gas from one system-connected pipeline to another [RP15-1225].

The storage facilities are in Matagorda and Wharton counties, TX. The associated pipeline header system connects with pipeline facilities of Channel Enterprise/Houston Pipe Line, Enterprise Texas Pipeline LP/Valero, Florida Gas Transmission Co. LLC, Gulf South Pipeline Co. LP, Kinder Morgan Houston Central Plant, Kinder Morgan Tejas Pipeline LLC, Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC, Texas Eastern Transmission LP, Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Co. LLC and Central Texas Gathering System.

The Commission said “…the relevant geographic market for Tres Palacios’ proposed service is the Gulf Coast Production Area, which is the same geographic area utilized and accepted by the Commission in Tres Palacios’ prior applications for market-based storage rate authority…Tres Palacios has satisfactorily shown that, within the relevant market, its prospective market share is low and that the market’s concentration is below the threshold the Commission would require before it would need to undertake closer scrutiny.”

Earlier this year in a separate docket, the Commission refused to allow Tres Palacios to abandon unused storage capacity for which it could not find subscribers (see Daily GPI, March 19).