FERC staff on Friday issued preliminary environmental approval to EnCana Corp.’s proposed Entrega Gas Pipeline to transport Rocky Mountain supplies from the Piceance Basin in northwestern Colorado to the Cheyenne gas trading hub in northeastern Colorado.

“The proposed project, with the potential exception of two route segments (the Piceance Basin Expansion Route Alternative and the Cheyenne Hub Variations), and with appropriate mitigating measures as recommended, would have limited adverse environmental impact,” according to the notice of availability of the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) on the Entrega project [CP04-413].

Additional public comment is being sought on the two route segments by federal regulators to complete the routing analysis for the final environmental impact statement. The Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) participated with FERC staff in preparing the DEIS because the Entrega project would cross federal lands under BLM administration in Wyoming and Colorado.

The proposed 327-mile Entrega pipeline would transport 1.5 Bcf/d from the Piceance Basin through the Wamsutter Basin and Hub in Sweetwater County, WY, to the Cheyenne gas trading hub in Weld County, CO, where several eastbound pipelines converge. Entrega plans to construct the pipeline in two phases, with 136 miles of 36-inch diameter pipeline expected to be completed by the end of this year, and 191 miles of 42-inch diameter pipeline to be in service in late 2006.

The estimated $650 million project also will include the construction of three new compressor stations (the Meeker Hub and Bighole Compressor Stations in Colorado, and the Wamsutter Compressor Station in Wyoming); and seven meters at interconnections with other pipeline systems (three associated with the new compressor stations, and four at the new Cheyenne Hub Metering Station in Wyoming).

The proposed pipeline will interconnect with Colorado Interstate Gas Co. (CIG) and Wyoming Interstate Co. Ltd. transmission systems at Wamsutter, WY, carrying supplies to markets east and west of Wamsutter; and it will connect with CIG, Cheyenne Plains Gas Pipeline, Trailblazer Pipeline and Public Service Co. of Colorado at the Cheyenne Hub, delivering gas to markets in the Midwest and central U.S. and the Eastern Slope south of the Cheyenne Hub.

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