By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Feb. 7 -- El Paso Corp. has placed in service expanded capacity at its Elba Island LNG receiving terminal near Savannah, Ga.
It spent $157 million to add 3.3 bcf equivalent of storage capacity and 540 MMcfd of peak sendout capacity to the facility, bringing totals to 7.3 bcf of storage and more than 1.2 bcfd of sendout capacity.
El Paso also added docking facilities that can accommodate two LNG vessels simultaneously in a new slip.
BG LNG Services holds the original capacity under long-term contract. Shell NA LNG LLC holds the expansion capacity.
El Paso has begun regulatory work on another expansion project, which would double the facility's size by 2010. It also is laying two pipelines to carry gas from the terminal—Cypress, to start service next year, and Elba Express, to start up in 2010.
The company expects capital costs for the expansions and pipelines to total nearly $1.3 billion.