FERC Tuesday issued a favorable environmental assessment (EA) of Creole Trail Pipeline Co. LP’s proposal to modify its system to accommodate the delivery of raw gas to a liquefaction project that Cheniere Energy affiliates Sabine Pass LNG and Sabine Pass Liquefaction are planning to build at the existing import terminal in Cameron Parish, LA.

“Approval of the proposed project, with appropriate mitigating measures, would not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment,” said the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the EA [CP12-351].

The project would provide 1,530,000 Dth/d of firm reverse flow capacity on the Creole Trail Pipeline for the delivery of feed gas to the proposed Sabine Pass Liquefaction Project, which FERC approved in April (see Daily GPI, April 17).

The Sabine Pass project was the first approved by FERC for the liquefaction of domestically produced natural gas for export. Sabine Pass LNG and Sabine Pass Liquefaction seek to liquefy and export up to 2.2 Bcf/d or 16 million metric tons per year of domestically produced gas. Houston-based Cheniere Energy owns and operates Creole Trail Pipeline and the Sabine Pass LNG terminal, and it is developing the liquefaction facility.

The companies have received authorization from the Department of Energy to export the commodity for a 20-year period to all Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and non-FTA nations (see Daily GPI, May 23, 2011).

The Creole Trail project, which has an estimated price tag of $104 million, calls for the construction of the 53,125 hp Gillis Compressor Station, modifications to three existing meter and regulation stations to allow bi-directional flow and increased capacity, and a 42-inch diameter pipeline lateral connecting the Gillis Compressor Station to the existing Creole Trail Pipeline, all in Beauregard Parish, LA (see Daily GPI, May 14).

The project will be constructed in two phases. Phase one construction is scheduled to begin during the fourth quarter of 2013 and be completed by the fourth quarter of 2014, while phase two construction is planned to begin in the first quarter of 2016 and be completed in the second quarter of 2016, according to Cheniere Energy.

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