FERC on Thursday granted Mississippi Hub LLC an exemption from Section 7 certificate requirements to conduct certain temporary activities to assess the economic and technical feasibility of developing a natural gas storage facility in southern Mississippi.

“We find it in the public interest to exempt the proposed activities from the certificate requirements of NGA [Natural Gas Act] Section 7,” the FERC order said [CP06-276]. “Given the limited availability of storage facility in the vicinity of the potential storage site, we acknowledge the potential benefit a new storage facility could provide. Further, we find that without performing the proposed activities MS Hub cannot make an informed business and engineering decision ,” it noted.

Mississippi Hub, based in Lafayette, LA, was formed for the purpose of exploring the potential to site an underground storage facility in Simpson County, MS, on property owned by the company. The company intends to drill stratigraphic test wells to collect data confirming the suitability of the site as a storage facility location.

If it finds the development of a storage facility to be feasible and demand for service to exist, Mississippi Hub said it plans to file an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for certificate approval to build an underground facility.

Mississippi Hub, which sought the exemption in May, asked the Commission to act expeditiously on its petition so it could immediately schedule a drilling rig. “Given the natural gas capacity demands in the Gulf Coast area, available drilling rigs are in very short supply. Mississippi Hub has been advised that a rig will be available Aug. 1, and if [it] does not contract for this rig to begin on that date, it is uncertain when another rig will be available,” the company told FERC.

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