NorTex Gas Storage Co. LLC, a subsidiary of Falcon Gas Storage Co. Inc., is holding a binding open season for firm gas storage and transportation services at its Hill-Lake Gas Storage Facility in Eastland County, TX, and its Worsham-Steed Gas Storage Facility in Jack County, TX, through March 7.

These firm services, available beginning April 1, include up to 4 Bcf of high-deliverability, multi-cycle (HDMC) working gas capacity with a maximum of six inventory cycles per year, intraday load following and hourly balancing (LFHB) and gas transportation services via Falcon’s recently completed 60-mile, 24-inch diameter high-pressure Worsham-Steed Pipeline. Traversing Jack, Parker and Hood counties, the Worsham-Steed Pipeline delivers Barnett Shale gas production to export markets through interconnects with the Atmos Line-X and Enterprise/Energy Transfer North Texas pipelines (see NGI, Oct. 29, 2007).

Falcon’s LFHB service is a firm hourly balancing service tailored for the highly volatile power generation market in Texas, managing 24-hour ratable gas flows with hourly peak and off-peak gas-fired electric power dispatch, Falcon said. The LFHB service allows shippers to inject gas into Falcon facilities for any hourly off-peak period and withdraw gas during peak power demand for any hourly period.

“We’ve spent the last year finishing our NorTex facilities build-out with the expansion of our Hill-Lake and Worsham-Steed storage facilities and the completion of our 60-mile Worsham-Steed gas pipeline,” said Falcon Chief Commercial Officer Jeff Foutch. “This brings our NorTex HDMC gas storage capacity at Hill-Lake and Worsham-Steed to nearly 35 Bcf combined and gives us the ability to transport over 450 MMcf/d, of which we have allotted 150 MMcf/d for third-party Barnett Shale gas production to be transported to other markets. Although most of our storage and transportation capacity was committed in advance of the most recent expansions, we’re pleased to be able to offer the remaining capacity in this open season.”

All bids are due by 5 p.m. CST on March 7. More information is available at www.falcongasstorage.com, or contact Foutch at jhfoutch@falcongasstorage.com, or (713) 623-5906, or John Holcomb at jholcomb@falcongasstorage.com, or (713) 623-5908.

Earlier this month MoBay Storage Hub LLC, an affiliate of Falcon, signed a gas storage lease with the State of Alabama that covers more than 24,000 acres of state-owned lands, clearing the way for construction of the MoBay Storage Hub to start this spring (see NGI, Feb. 11).

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