EL Paso Natural Gas Co. (EPNG) is holding a binding open season for a proposed new 2 Bcf storage facility, comprised of four salt caverns, to be located in Pinal County, AZ. The in-service date of the first cavern is scheduled for 2013.

The proposed facility will include related compression and treatment, as well as a pipeline lateral. Services offered from the facility would include both firm storage service and no-notice transportation service. EPNG anticipates developing the project under 15-year firm contracts at maximum recourse rates for the full four-cavern project.

The open season will close at 4 p.m. MST on Dec. 5. To obtain precedent agreements and offer sheets, contact Craig Coombs at (719) 520-4387, Tom Dobson at (719) 520-4606 or Greg Gettman at (719) 520-4533. Detailed information about the open season is available on EPNG’s website at www.elpaso.com/pipelines under “Informational Postings.”

In April 2006 FERC cited the scarcity of storage in the Southwest in granting EPNG a waiver of the Natural Gas Act certificate requirements to carry out drilling and testing activities to determine the feasibility of developing storage facilities in south-central Arizona (see Daily GPI, April 4, 2006). The El Paso Corp.-owned pipeline petitioned for the exemption so it could drill a test well on a 234-acre parcel of land in Pinal County that it purchased to develop a storage facility.

In 2004 El Paso ran into stiff local opposition and onerous state legislative proposals when it was trying to develop the 10 Bcf Copper Eagle Gas Storage project in Phoenix’s West Valley (see Daily GPI, April 16, 2004).

Earlier this year Pacific Texas Energy Services, a division of Arizona-based Pacific Texas Pipeline Co., said it was proceeding with plans to develop a storage facility of its own in Pinal County (see Daily GPI, June 5). The company said geological studies had shown that there were several locations in Pinal County possibly suitable for storage facilities.

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