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Columbia Gulf gets FERC nod to start line to Cameron LNG

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Columbia Gulf gets FERC nod to start line to Cameron LNG

Columbia Gulf Transmission LLC obtained permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on March 13 to place into service a 34-mile, 800,000-Dth/d pipeline project designed for westbound natural gas flows in Louisiana.

The project will eventually help feed the Cameron LNG export terminal in southwest Louisiana.

The $310 million Cameron Access project, authorized by FERC in September 2015, includes 6.8 miles of 30-inch-diameter pipeline looping in Jefferson Davis Parish, La.; 27.3 miles of 36-inch-diameter pipeline in Jefferson Davis, Cameron and Calcasieu parishes in Louisiana; and a new 12,260-horsepower compressor station in Jefferson Davis Parish.

Columbia Gulf, part of the Columbia Pipeline Group Inc., has said the project responds to a need to flow gas east to west on its West Lateral transmission system as new markets have developed along the Gulf Coast and elsewhere. Sponsors have also noted the project helps connect abundant, but constrained, Appalachian supplies to higher value markets.

"Natural gas on Columbia Gulf's West Lateral transmission system has traditionally flowed from west to east toward Rayne [compressor station] and Columbia Gulf's mainline, then north to markets in the Midwest and Northeast," the company said in the project's application. "In recent years, changes in traditional supply sources and the development of new markets along the Gulf Coast and elsewhere have created commercial opportunities which require alterations in the direction of gas flow."

Platts Analytics data showed flows from east to west, or backhaul volumes, on Columbia Gulf's West Lateral segment have averaged 97 MMcf/d in 2018, while no eastbound volumes have been recorded year to date.

Columbia Gulf asked FERC on Feb. 16 to place the project into service March 1. On March 12, Columbia Gulf renewed its request, noting that all facilities are welded together and the project can physically flow gas. Temporary restoration is complete, and final restoration is expected to continue until May, depending on the weather, the developer said.

Following a December 2012 open season, Columbia Gulf entered into binding precedent agreements with two shippers for up to 700,000 Dth/d of firm transportation service.

The Cameron LNG project, which is under construction in Hackberry, La., has an export capacity of 14.95 million tonnes per year and a planned start-up date of 2019. The project is operated by Sempra Energy, and its partners include Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsui & Co. Ltd., Engie and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha. (FERC docket CP15-109)

Maya Weber is a reporter for S&P Global Platts, which like S&P Global Market Intelligence, is owned by S&P Global Inc.