Bobcat Louisiana gas storage site in operation

Nov. 17, 2008
Bobcat Gas Storage has started up operations at its natural gas storage facility in St. Landry Parish, La.

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Nov. 17 -- Bobcat Gas Storage, owned by Haddington Energy Partners III LP and GE Energy Financial Services, has started up operations at its natural gas storage facility in St. Landry Parish, La.

The cavern is fully subscribed with customers. Bobcat began providing storage services to its customers on Nov. 1 after nearly 3 years of planning, permitting, and construction.

The site's initial capacity is nearly 5.4 bcf of working gas, which is planned to be increased to 10.3 bcf by third-quarter 2009 when a second cavern, currently under construction, is completed and starts up. Capacity will expand to 15.6 bcf by yearend 2009 after the full build-out. The Bobcat site also contains adequate space for the company to expand with additional gas storage caverns.

Each cavern is fully surrounded by salt and is about as deep as four football fields, beginning at about 4,500 ft beneath the surface and extending to nearly 6,000 ft.

The storage project is 45 miles from Henry Hub and provides access to gas from Louisiana and Texas—including the Barnett shale—and from the Gulf of Mexico. The site interconnects with five major interstate pipelines, namely Florida Gas Transmission Co., Texas Eastern Transmission Corp., Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Corp., ANR Pipeline Co., and Gulf South Pipeline Co.