The Black Warrior Storage Project in Mississippi has been slated for an environmental assessment, the FERC said Monday. The project, which would provide up to 24.7 Bcf of working gas capacity, is being developed by Southeast Gas Storage LLC (SGS), an affiliate of El Paso Corp.’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co.

Black Warrior would use a nearly depleted oil and gas reservoir in Monroe and Lowndes counties, MS. “These facilities would consist of new natural gas pipeline, abandonment by removal of existing pipeline, new existing injection/withdrawal wells, new gathering pipelines, a new salt water disposal pipeline, conversion of existing gas wells to observation wells, a new salt water disposal well, a new compressor station and a new meter station,” staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said.

Southeast held an open season for the project last spring and at the time said the facility would connect with Tennessee’s 500 Line, downstream of its Columbus Compressor Station in Zone 1, through a new 24-inch diameter pipeline. Based on the initial project design, the high-deliverability, multi-cycle facility would provide up to 333 MMcf/d injection rates and 375 MMcf/d withdrawal rates (see Daily GPI, April 15).

FERC’s scoping process, during which it will gather information from the public and interested agencies on the project, will close on Aug. 20. The company is seeking certification of the project by Dec. 31 to achieve in-service in June 2010.

Spokesman Richard Wheatley told NGI that the company received expressions of interest in more than 60 Bcf of working capacity during the open season. The company is currently negotiating precedent agreements, he said.

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