FERC Friday issued a favorable environmental assessment (EA) of Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line’s (Transco) and Florida Gas Transmission’s (FGT) joint proposal to connect the Mobile Bay Lateral with a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal being developed in Pascagoula, MS. A related upstream pipeline project of FGT’s got a favorable review as well.

“Approval of the proposed projects, with appropriate mitigating measures, would not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment,” staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said [CP09-455, CP09-456].

The EA gave initial environmental approval to the project known as the “Pascagoula Expansion,” which calls for the construction of 15.5 miles of 26-inch diameter pipeline connecting the proposed Gulf LNG Energy LLC’s Clean Energy terminal to Transco’s and FGT’s existing Mobile Bay Lateral. The project would have the capacity to deliver approximately 810,000 Dth/d and would be located in portions of Mobile County, AL, and Jackson County, MS, at the Bayou Casotte portion of the Port of Pascagoula.

The EA also gave an environmental nod to FGT’s “Mobile Bay Lateral Extension Project.” The existing Mobile Bay Lateral runs from FGT’s mainlines near Citronelle, AL, to FGT’s Compressor Station 44 in Mobile Bay, AL. FGT is requesting authorization to build extension facilities to transport 342,610 MMBtu/d of regasified natural gas from the proposed $1.1 billion LNG plant in Pascagoula to the existing Mobile Bay Lateral, which is located in Mobile County. The facilities would allow FGT to connect regasified LNG supply in south Alabama to its system.

The 1.3 Bcf/d Gulf LNG Clean Energy import terminal, which was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in February 2007, is targeted for service in fall 2011, according to the company (see Daily GPI, Feb. 16, 2007). Gulf LNG Energy is owned by Houston-based Crest Investments and Angola-based Sonangol. El Paso Corp. bought a $294 million half interest in the terminal and will manage its operations.

The Pascagoula Expansion and Mobile Bay Lateral Extension are interrelated. The Pascagoula Expansion would be the upstream pipeline delivering gas into FGT’s Mobile Bay extension project.

Transco is a 10,500-mile system that delivers gas from the Gulf of Mexico to New York City, the Mid-Atlantic and the Atlanta area. FGT, which is equally owned by Southern Union Co. and El Paso Corp., is a 5,000-mile pipeline that delivers 2.3 Bcf/d to the Florida market.

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