Construction of the Willcox Lateral to the Mexican border was about 75% complete as of the beginning of May, El Paso Natural Gas said in a status update on the project. Work on the line began in April, and final state and federal regulatory permitting is in progress, El Paso said.

El Paso got FERC approval to build the $30 million Willcox Lateral early last year. It runs 60 miles from the El Paso mainline in Cochise County, AZ, to border crossing facilities and is aimed at serving several existing and proposed gas-fired power plants in Mexico’s northern state of Sonora.

The lateral’s western leg is expected to be connected to facilities of Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the national oil and gas company of Mexico, and placed in service no later than Aug. 1. The eastern leg will be completed around the same time; however, the downstream facilities for it may not be available at that time, El Paso said. It noted that the western leg may be available for service earlier than Aug. 1 if all final permits are received and there are no construction delays.

Of the Willcox Lateral’s 130 MMcf/d of capacity, 92.166 MMcf/d is already subscribed, leaving 37.834 MMcf/d available. El Paso said a meeting has been scheduled with the current holder of the 92.166 MMcf/d and others to review the project and tour the pipeline construction on May 7 and 8. Any potential customer wanting to attend this meeting or schedule a similar one should call Lisa Holmes at (915) 496-2568.

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