The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission removed authorizations for natural gas storage facilities that had been part of a proposed expansion of a Louisiana facility operated by LA Storage LLC, as requested by the Sempra Energy company.

FERC on Feb. 15 vacated authorizations in a 2009 certificate order for the expansion of the gas storage project. The authorizations affected by the Feb. 15 order had applied to four high-deliverability storage caverns, 5.1 miles of 36-inch pipeline, and a compressor station and meter station in Calcasieu and Cameron parishes in Louisiana.

LA Storage requested this FERC action in June 2017. The company said it was not able to build the facilities even after the commission had granted three extensions of time. LA Storage operates as a subsidiary of Sempra Pipelines & Storage Corp.

The FERC order did not affect the authorizations for a header system and an off-site compressor station that are in place and operating. In 2010, the commission had allowed Liberty Gas Storage LLC, an LA Storage affiliate and the previous owner of the facility, to scrap two original storage caverns, but the commission left the company with the authority to provide interruptible hub-related services using the completed header system, interstate pipeline connections and the compressor station. The commission had agreed with the company that the two caverns had structural problems that prevented them from safely storing gas. (FERC docket CP08-454)