East Cheyenne Gas Storage LLC Tuesday asked FERC to approve its request to use of the agency’s National Environmental Policy Act pre-filing process to vet its proposal to construct a depleted reservoir storage facility in northeastern Colorado.

The proposal calls for East Cheyenne to develop a storage project on mineral leases held by Denver-based Merchant Energy Partners LLC, its parent company, in two depleted reservoirs known as West Peetz and Lewis Creek, approximately 23 miles north of Sterling, CO. The project would provide high-deliverability storage services to markets throughout the Midwest and in the West.

Initially the West Peetz reservoir would offer 6.2 Bcf of working capacity, which would be expandable to 8.2 Bcf four years after the start of operations, the company said. The Lewis Creek reservoir initially would be capable of providing as much as 3.6 Bcf of working capacity, with the potential to grow to 5.6 Bcf after four years of operation. Total working capacity would be about 13.8 Bcf by the end of the fourth year of operation, East Cheyenne noted.

The project also calls for the construction of twin 24-inch diameter pipelines that would connect a proposed compressor station to the Rockies Express and Trailblazer pipeline systems.

East Cheyenne said it expects to file a certificate application in December. It asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue a certificate order by May 2010 so it could begin construction the following month. It estimates that construction will take 10 to 16 months.

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