Topping FERC’s list of pipeline projects that went into service in October were National Fuel Gas Supply’s and Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s Marcellus Shale-related expansions. A new lateral in Illinois also was placed into service, and two expansion projects were approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, according to the latest energy infrastructure update.

National Fuel placed into service its Line N Replacement and Lines R and I expansion projects, which provide 150 MMcf/d of firm transportation capacity of Marcellus Shale gas on its Line N system in western Pennsylvania to Texas Eastern Transmission in Greene County, PA.

Tennessee Gas Pipeline placed into service in its Line 300 expansion project, which runs through the heart of the Marcellus Shale basin (from western Pennsylvania to eastern Pennsylvania and into northern New Jersey), and adds about 350,000 th/d of capacity to the pipeline’s system (see Daily GPI,Nov. 2). In addition to Marcellus and other sources of Appalachian gas, the project will provide greater access to Rocky Mountain and Gulf Coast gas, according to Tennessee.

The Commission also gave the green light to Northern Border Pipeline to begin transporting 120 MMcf/d over it its Prince Lateral Project to Central Illinois Light Co. near Princeton, IL. Moreover, National Fuel and Tennessee last month received authorization to construct and operate their Northern Access and Station 230C projects, which would transport 320,000 Dth/d of Marcellus Shale gas in Pennsylvania and New York (see Shale Daily, Oct. 24).

El Paso Natural Gas also filed an application to construct its Wilcox Lateral 2013 Expansion Project, which would increase capacity on the lateral in Cochise County, AZ, by 185 MMcf/d.

All told the Commission gave the go-ahead for six pipeline projects to start up in the month of October, adding 620 MMcf/d of new capacity and 181.7 miles to the grid, according to the Commission’s Office of Energy Projects (OEP). A total of 27 pipeline facilities were placed in service through Oct. 31 of this year, compared to 24 for the same period in 2010, OEP said.

A total of 11.75 Bcf/d of new pipeline capacity has been built so far this year (through Oct. 31), compared to 7.6 Bcf/d in the year-earlier period. Approximately 1,724 miles of new pipeline have been constructed, more than triple the 506 miles that were added in the comparable period in 2010, OEP noted.

Only one storage facility went into service in October, with a capacity of 2.7 Bcf. FERC also certificated a storage project, with the same capacity. Fewer storage facilities were placed in service through Oct. 31 of this year than compared to the same period a year ago — eight versus 12. And only 36 Bcf of storage capacity has been put in operation so far this year compared to nearly 72 Bcf for the same period in 2010.

Only two LNG facilities have been placed in service through Oct. 31 compared to one in the same period in 2010, according to OEP. However, the amount of capacity placed in service is far greater (23.2 Bcf) than the capacity put in service in the same period of 2010 (4.22 Bcf). No LNG projects were certificated by FERC through Oct. 31, it noted.

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