FERC Tuesday issued an order amending Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline LLC’s presidential permit so that it can export, as well as import, natural gas through its cross-border pipeline facilities at the U.S.-Canadian border.

The pipeline made its initial request for export authority in April, but the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission failed to respond quickly (see Daily GPI, April 27). This caused Maritimes to make a second plea nearly a month ago, urging the agency to act “as soon as possible” so the pipeline could respond to market developments (see Daily GPI, June 26).

For one, the Sable Offshore Energy Project (SOEP) “has informed Maritimes that its production will be offline for maintenance in August, which potentially affects supply to markets in the northeastern United States served by Maritimes and to markets in Atlantic Canada serviced by Maritimes’ Canadian affiliate,” the pipeline told the Commission in late June [CP96-810].

“In light of the upcoming August outage, Maritimes expects that many parties will be attempting to make alternate gas supply arrangements in mid-July,” Maritimes said. The Sable Island project, which produces an average of 400-500 MMcf/d, supplies gas for delivery by Maritimes to the Atlantic Canada and New England markets.

In addition, the Canaport LNG terminal in New Brunswick last week began delivering regasified liquefied natural gas (LNG) into the 90-mile Emera Brunswick Pipeline, with redelivery to an interconnection with the Maritimes system at Baileyville, ME, near the U.S.-Canadian border (see Daily GPI, July 16). Maritimes said it has had requests from customers on both sides of the border for the Canaport natural gas, prompting its FERC application for export authority. The pipeline’s border-crossing facilities have the capacity to export 833,317 Dth/d of natural gas, according to Maritimes.

Canaport, a joint venture of Spain’s Repsol and Canada’s Irving Oil Ltd., is the first LNG terminal to be built on the east coast of North America in 30 years and the first ever to be built in Canada. The 1 Bcf/d terminal, along with Repsol’s other natural gas assets, will supply as much as 20% of the natural gas market in the Northeast U.S.

In approving Maritimes’ request for export authority, FERC said, “We find that granting the applicant’s request for authority to use its existing border facilities for the export, as well as the import, of natural gas will promote national economic policy by reducing barriers to foreign trade and stimulating the flow of goods and services between the United States and Canada, both of which are signatories to the North American Free Trade Agreement.”

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