Transwestern Pipeline has filed an application with FERC tobuild a new 10,000 hp compressor station near Thoreau, NM, off ofits San Juan Lateral and to add facilities to its Bloomfield and LaPlata compressor stations. The $11.6 million project will providean additional 50 MMcf/d of firm transportation service on the SanJuan Lateral downstream of the Bloomfield compressor station andwill allow Transwestern to operate its mainline at its certificatedcapacity of 1.1 Bcf/d on a firm basis.

Transwestern said all of its existing capacity is fullysubscribed and its ability to provide incremental capacity islimited. It held an open season in November and December 1998 andreceived requests from 17 shippers for 1.2 Bcf/d of incrementalcapacity. But so far it has signed precedent agreements withshippers for only 25,000 Dth/d of the new capacity on the San JuanLateral (50% of the proposed additions) and for 25,000 Dth/d of thenew capacity on the mainline west to the California border (36% ofthe new additions). Transwestern said it is continuing to negotiatewith other interested parties for the remainder of the proposedcapacity and will file additional precedent agreements withshippers when they are signed.

Transwestern has agreed to charge discounted rates for theincremental capacity, but said it expects to receive revenues inexcess of the incremental cost of service of the proposed expansiononce all of the capacity is under contract.

©Copyright 1999 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. Thepreceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, inwhole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent ofIntelligence Press, Inc.