A new 500 MMcf/d interconnect has gone into service in Macomb County, MI, offering two-way service between Bluewater Gas Storage’s facilities and Vector Pipeline’s system, the two companies said Friday.

“The interconnect is a continuation of Vector’s plan to provide transportation services between the Chicago natural gas supply hub and all major storage providers in southeastern Michigan and Ontario, said John T. Donaldson, Vector’s vice president of marketing.

“In addition to being an alternate supply route for Canadian production, this new interconnection allows customers of Bluewater access to Mid-Continent, Gulf Coast and Rockies supply via Vector,” noted Bluewater Gas Storage President Laura L. Luce.

Michigan regulators approved the Bluewater Gas Storage-Vector interconnect, as well as authorized the construction of pipeline facilities that would interconnect the recently acquired Bluewater Pipeline to the Bluewater storage facility in Michigan and to Great Lakes Gas Transmission LP’s system.

In another development, FERC on Thursday gave Bluewater Gas Storage the go-ahead to acquire CMS Gas Transmission Co.’s leasehold interest in border facilities, which extend from the terminus of the company’s Bluewater Pipeline in St. Clair County, MI, to the U.S.-Canadian boundary at a point in the middle of the St. Clair River.

The border facilities connect with facilities on the Canadian side of the boundary that are operated by St. Clair Pipeline Ltd., and have a capacity of 250,000 Mcf/d.

Based in Westport, CT, Bluewater Gas Storage is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy. Its facility is located in St. Clair, and has a gas storage capacity of 27 Bcf.

The 274-mile, 42-inch diameter Vector line, a joint venture of Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. and Detroit, MI-based DTE Energy Co., transports western Canadian natural gas from the Chicago market hub in Joliet, IL, to the hub at Dawn, Ontario, providing access to markets and storage in the Upper Midwest and eastern Canada.

©Copyright 2004 Intelligence Press Inc. Allrights reserved. The preceding news report may not be republishedor redistributed, in whole or in part, in any form, without priorwritten consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.