It’s taken a little longer than expected, but on Friday, Cross Bay Pipeline Co. LLC of Houston fulfilled a two-year plus dream by filing an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to increase natural gas deliveries into the New York City metropolitan area by 125,000 Dth/d. The proposed project now has an in-service date of Dec. 1, 2002.

The Cross Bay project, first announced in January 1998, is estimated to now cost $59.5 million to construct. It will include the transfer of ownership of nearly 37 miles of Williams’ existing Transco Lower New York Bay Extension to the LLC; an expansion of existing facilities with the construction of a 16,000 horsepower compressor station in Middlesex County, NY; pipe replacement; and system modifications.

If approved by FERC, construction on the pipeline project could begin in July 2001. Once completed, the compressor station and pipeline would form a new interstate pipeline system that would extend from Middlesex County across the lower New York Bay, all the way to Nassau County, NY. The pipeline’s capacity would be more than 600,000 Dth/d, and 125,000 Dth/d of incremental capacity would be available to Cross Bay shippers.

“By expanding the capacity of these existing facilities, Cross Bay Pipeline Co. will be able to create an important gas transportation alternative for New Jersey and New York markets in an economical, efficient manner with minimal impact on the environment,” said a project statement from the partners.

Williams and Duke Energy each have a 37.5% ownership stake in the limited liability company, while KeySpan, which came on as a third partner in August 1998, owns 25% of Cross Bay (see Daily GPI, Aug. 6, 1998).

Since its inception more than two years ago, the Cross Bay project has been altered somewhat, with the cost of the project changing most of all. When it was in its first stage of development in 1998, cost to get the pipeline up and going was estimated to be $45 million, and it was scheduled to go into operation in November 2000. It also had expected to file its project application with FERC at the end of 1998 (see Daily GPI, Oct. 15, 1998).

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