Chevron Global Gas, a division of Chevron U.S.A. Inc., said Tuesday that it has filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as part of the permitting process to build an underground natural gas storage facility in northeastern Colorado. Taking over the Unocal storage project following the company’s merger in August, Chevron said the Windy Hill facility will provide critical infrastructure necessary to meet the growing demand for natural gas in the region and elsewhere.

Windy Hill will four salt storage caverns with total working natural gas capacity of 6 Bcf. The facility will be located near the town of Brush in Morgan County, CO. With the application filed with FERC on Nov. 2, Chevron said it hopes to begin construction of the first two storage caverns as early as 2006. The company anticipates providing service from the first two caverns in 2008, and from the third and fourth caverns in 2010.

“As the first bedded-salt gas storage facility in Colorado, the Windy Hill project is strategically positioned to add critical high deliverability storage capacity for producers in the Rockies and to help maintain reliable supplies of natural gas for the growing Denver market,” said John Gass, president of Chevron Global Gas. “Natural gas represents one of the energy industry’s greatest growth opportunities. Natural gas is expected to outpace demand for crude oil over the next two decades and is fast becoming the fuel of choice for homes and industry.”

The storage project was first announced by Unocal Windy Hill Gas Storage LLC in June of 2004 (see Daily GPI, June 30, 2004). In April of this year, the company conducted a nonbinding open season for the 6 Bcf of future natural gas storage capacity. Following the consummation of the Chevron-Unocal merger in August, the project continues on under the Chevron name (see Daily GPI, Aug. 11).

Currently, there are eight storage facilities operating in Colorado, three of which are located in Morgan County, with a total working gas capacity of 40.62 Bcf. A ninth storage facility is out of service, and another storage project was proposed in 2001 by AES Corp. in Arapahoe County but never constructed.

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