A recently completed nonbinding open season for services at Atmos Energy Corp.’s proposed Fort Necessity salt-dome gas storage project in Franklin Parish, LA, was a success, with participants requesting more than three times the 5 Bcf of capacity proposed for the project’s first phase, the company said Friday.

Open season participants included gas utilities, gas marketing and trading firms, interstate pipelines, gas producers and liquefied natural gas (LNG)-related companies in the United States and international markets, Atmos said.

“This level of interest confirms the strong desire for high-cyclical storage facilities in the Gulf Coast area, particularly a site like Fort Necessity, located downstream of historical interstate pipeline bottlenecks,” said Mark Johnson, Atmos senior vice president nonregulated operations.

Atmos Pipeline and Storage LLC plans to develop the facility to provide initially up to 15 Bcf of working capacity in three caverns on a 500-acre site in northeastern Louisiana. Pending regulatory approval, the first cavern is projected to go into full commercial operation by early 2011. The other two caverns are expected to enter service by 2012 and 2014. Based on market demand, four additional caverns could be developed.

Fort Necessity would have mainline interconnects with Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s 800 Leg, Columbia Gulf Transmission and ANR Pipelines and Regency Energy Partners’ 30-inch diameter Winnsboro Extension. Additional mainline interconnects being considered include Trunkline and Texas Gas Transmission pipelines in northeastern Louisiana.

Drilling operations recently began to obtain core samples necessary to complete a required Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) application, which Atmos anticipates filing next month.

Dallas-based Atmos announced the open season in May (see Daily GPI, May 23). The company submitted a pre-filing request for the facility with FERC in February (see Daily GPI, Feb. 7).

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