CMS Trunkline LNG Co. LLC, which already operates the largest North American liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal near Lake Charles, LA, has filed applications at FERC for authorization to make the facility even bigger, increasing its sendout deliverability, storage and metering capacities.

The company is looking to nearly double the sendout deliverability capacity to 1.2 Bcf/d from 0.63 Bcf/d, expand the terminal’s storage capacity to 9 Bcf from its current 6.3 Bcf with the addition of a fourth storage tank, and increase the measurement capability of the plant, which in turn is expected to boost pipeline deliverability to 1.2 Bcf/d from 1 Bcf/d. The projects, which were first announced in October, have an estimated price-tag of $150-$200 million. Their projected in-service date is Jan. 1, 2005.

CMS Trunkline has asked the Commission to approve the projects by Aug. 1, 2002, so that it can begin construction by next fall. The company estimated project construction will take 26 months. In addition to the new storage tank, project plans include the addition of a second loading berth, enabling CMS Trunkline to unload two LNG tankers at the same time, as well as additional vaporization equipment and new pumps, the company said.

CMS Trunkline said it undertook the expansions to meet the contractual demands of its only customer, BG Group, which will purchase the entire 1.2 Bcf/d post-expansion output of the LNG facility.

While LNG facilities on the East Coast were impacted in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, “we actually have been very successful” this year, said a CMS Trunkline spokesman, adding that the Lake Charles terminal received more than 60 LNG shipments this year, up from 55 LNG cargoes in 2000 and 27 shipments in 1999.

The CMS LNG facility hasn’t been shrouded in the same controversy because it’s located in a “different geographical environment” about 10 miles from the nearest city in a “very industrial area,” he noted.

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