The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Wednesday issued favorable rulings for Duke Energy’s Egan Hub Partners LP to proceed with further expansion of its storage facility in Louisiana, and for Montana-based Energy West Development Inc. to convert a liquid products pipeline to natural gas service in the West.

Egan Hub was awarded a certificate to expand the working gas capacity of its three-cavern storage facility at the Jennings Salt Dome in Acadia Parish, LA, to 24 Bcf from 16 Bcf, as well as boost its maximum aggregate operating capacity to 31.5 Bcf from 21 Bcf. It also signaled its wish to continue charging market-based rates for storage services [CP03-2].

The proposed increase in maximum operating capacity of the three caverns will not affect Egan Hub’s certificated total deliverability capability of 1.5 Bcf/d, or change the total maximum injection capability of 800 MMcf/d, according to the Houston-based company.

Egan Hub plans to expand its existing storage caverns at the facility by either conducting conventional solution mining, which could require the caverns to be taken out of service from time to time, or by using Solution Mining Under Gas (SMUG), which is a slower mining technique that would permit Egan Hub to increase cavern capacity without taking the caverns out of service.

Egan Hub cited “significant market growth” as the reason for seeking further expansion of its facilities. It said it “has received and continues to receive numerous requests for additional storage service.” It noted that all of its available capacity presently is subscribed.

The latest expansion project comes less than a year after FERC gave Egan Hub certificate clearance to add the third storage cavern at its facility in Louisiana, which boosted maximum operating capacity to 21 Bcf [CP01-66-001]. Egan assured the Commission at the time that it would not exceed the 21 Bcf level without receiving prior agency approval.

Egan’s storage facilities interconnect with a number of interstate pipelines, including ANR, Columbia Gulf Transmission, Trunkline Gas, Tennessee Gas, Texas Eastern Transmission, Texas Gas Transmission and Florida Gas Transmission.

Energy West Development was awarded certificates to convert and operate a 34-mile liquid products line located in Wyoming and Montana to gas service, providing shippers with direct access to NorthWestern Energy’s pipeline facilities and indirect access to the Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline (WBI) system [CP03-2].

The so-called Shoshone Pipeline would extend from an interconnection with transmission facilities of Energy West Wyoming, a division of Energy West, at the north city-gate of Cody, WY, to an interconnection with NorthWestern Energy’s pipeline near Warren, MT, which connects with WBI. The transportation capacity of the 40-year-old line was estimated at 13,500 MMBtu/d. NorthWestern Energy, which is owned by NorthWestern Corp., is a gas distribution company with transportation facilities in Montana.

The converted line would provide pipeline-on-pipeline competition to the Cody area, which currently is served by only Colorado Interstate Gas (CIG), according to Energy West’s application.

Energy West said it would be fully at risk for the cost of the conversion.

The Montana-based company said it has entered into negotiated-rate transactions with affiliate Energy West Resources and an unaffiliated marketing company, Prairielands Energy Marketing Inc., for service on the converted line. In addition, it noted that Howell Petroleum has provided an “expression of interest” to be a shipper on the pipeline.

“These transactions are an integral component to Energy West’s interest and incentive in converting and operating the pipeline…for natural gas use,” said Energy West, which supplies gas, propane and electricity to customers in Montana, Wyoming and Arizona.

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