By OGJj editors
HOUSTON, Oct. 11 -- SG Resources Mississippi LLC (SGRM), a subsidiary of Houston-based SGR Holdings LLC, has received FERC approval to construct and operate the Southern Pines Energy Center, a new salt cavern natural gas storage facility to be developed in Greene County, Miss.
"We are. . .very appreciative of the thorough but expeditious review provided by FERC staff," said Jack Gatewood, an SG Resources principal and director of engineering. "With the certificate in hand, we are able to move quickly toward the commencement of construction."
The storage center, scheduled to be operational by early 2004, will be a high-deliverability, natural gas storage facility that, when completed, will provide 12 bcf of natural gas storage in two caverns, each with 8 bcf of capacity (OGJ Online, Jan. 15, 2002). It will be capable of supporting natural gas withdrawal rates of up to 1.2 bcfd and injection rates of up to 0.6 bcfd.
SGRM has been authorized to offer firm and secondary firm storage services at "market-based" rates to be negotiated to meet the needs of individual customers. The storage center will serve as a supply and storage market hub for nine major pipelines serving the southeastern US.
The Southern Pines facility initially will have a bidirectional interconnect with the Destin pipeline that provides direct access to the Southern Natural Gas, Tennessee Gas Pipeline, Florida Gas Transmission, Gulfstream, and Gulf South pipeline systems.
Construction plans include a Phase II development, which SGRM plans to present for regulatory approvals in early 2003. Phase II will include bi-directional, direct interconnects to Florida Gas Transmission, Transco, and Gulf South pipelines, These additional direct interconnects will be operational by first quarter 2004. The 80-acre site will accommodate three additional caverns to support future demand growth, SGRM said.
SGRM currently is negotiating several long-term firm storage service agreements covering service at Southern Pines.