Williams unit Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corp. (Transco) said last week its open season for the proposed Rockies Connector Pipeline generated bids exceeding project capacity from Rockies producers and the Northeast market. The company also touted the results of two other open seasons.

The solicitation of shipper support began Sept. 26 and ended Oct. 29 (see NGI, Oct. 8).

“The results of the open season confirm that our project of approximately 688,000 Dth/d is the right size for the market,” said Phil Wright, president of Williams’ natural gas pipeline business. “With the significant interest shown in the open season, our next step is to finalize definitive precedent agreements with bidding parties — a process we are targeting to complete by the end of this year. Meanwhile, we continue to make great strides on the ongoing technical effort supporting a project in-service date of November 2010.”

The Rockies Connector Pipeline would connect gas supplies originating from the Rockies to the growing major markets in the Northeast. The pipeline would extend approximately 250 miles, connecting Williams’ Transco Station 195 in southeastern Pennsylvania to the eastern terminus of the Rockies Express pipeline, a project being developed by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, Sempra Pipelines and Storage and ConocoPhillips.

“Rockies Connector provides an excellent supply opportunity for existing Northeast customers via Williams’ recently announced Northeast Connector expansion of Transco,” Wright said. “Together, these projects bring supply diversity and access to the northeastern market, connecting it with the prolific Rockies basin at the right time to serve customer needs.”

The company also said last week that two other open seasons yielded good results.

The open season for Transco’s Pascagoula expansion ended Sept. 7. Transco has subscribed the entire capacity offered, 467,390 Dth/d, from a new interconnect with the proposed Gulf LNG Clean Energy import terminal at Pascagoula, MS, to Transco’s Station 85 pool. The project includes a new 15-mile pipeline from Pascagoula to Transco’s Mobile Bay lateral. The target in-service date for the project is October 2011 (see NGI, Aug. 13).

The open season for Transco’s 85 North expansion project ended Oct. 31, and the pipeline received requests for capacity exceeding the proposed project size of 250,000 Dth/d. The project will provide customers in the Southeast with access to growing supplies at Station 85. The target in-service date for the 85 North project is May 2011 (see NGI, Sept. 24).

Williams said it is in the process of negotiating precedent agreements with parties that have expressed interest in Rockies Connector and the 85 North expansion. Additionally, open seasons are under way for two more projects. The open season for Transco’s Northeast Connector expansion ends Monday (Nov. 5), and the open season for its Mobile Bay South expansion ends Nov. 16.

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