Williams Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco) is holding a nonbinding open season through Feb. 26 for expansion capacity to serve southeastern markets. This project would be in addition to a similar expansion the company announced last year.

The proposed Mobile Bay South II expansion would offer year-round firm service on Transco’s Mobile Bay Lateral from Station 85 in Choctaw County, AL, as far south as an existing interconnection with Gulfstream Natural Gas System in Mobile County, AL. The compression-only expansion is expected to provide up to 550,000 Dth/d of capacity as early as May 2011, subject to FERC approval.

“This project builds on the success of our first Mobile Bay South expansion project. It will provide shippers access to supply at Station 85, as well as access to third-party storage being connected to the Mobile Bay Lateral,” said Phil Wright, president of Williams’ gas pipeline business.

Mobile Bay South II would connect growing supply at Station 85 to growing demand from local distribution companies and power generators in the Southeast, Wright said.

Demand for gas among southeastern power generators is expected to be particularly robust, as a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission official noted last year. “While both natural gas and coal prices have increased rapidly, natural gas is increasingly important in every region of the country…even in regions where coal has historically dominated — most noticeably in SERC [Southeastern Electric Reliability Council] — natural gas usage has grown substantially since 2000, up 63.6 TWh in 2007, more than in any other region. Noticeable increases also occurred in FRCC [Florida Reliability Coordinating Council], which has flexibility to burn either gas or oil at many facilities, and also in the Rockies and Southwest, where demand continues to grow considerably,” said Charles Whitmore of FERC’s Office of Enforcement (see Daily GPI, June 20, 2008).

Transco’s first Mobile Bay South expansion, for which the company made a filing at FERC last September, is expected to be in service during the second quarter of 2010. This project involves construction of a 9,470 hp compressor facility at Station 85 at a cost of approximately $37 million, Williams said (see Daily GPI, Sept. 23, 2008).

The firm transportation service will be performed under Transco’s Rate Schedule FT and Part 284(G) of FERC regulations. Shippers will pay the maximum Rate Schedule FT reservation rate and commodity rate applicable to firm service under the project; rates may change from time to time.

The final size of Mobile Bay South II will be determined by the open season results. For information, contact Toi Anderson at (713) 215-4540.

©Copyright 2009Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.