Falcon Gas Storage says bids on two open seasons at two sites both exceeded capacity
By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, May 28 -- Storage developer Falcon Gas Storage Co., Houston, reported that unexpected response to two recent open seasons for two separate locations have both exceeded the company's planned capacity for those sites.
Hill-Lake Gas Storage LP, a wholly owned subsidiary of Falcon, concluded its open season for the proposed Phase II Hill-Lake gas storage facility expansion with bids exceeding planned additional working gas capacity of 3.7 Bcf by nearly 50%, Falcon said May 22.
On May 13, Falcon announced capacity bids submitted during an open season for its new MoBay storage hub project in Mobile County, Ala., exceeded the working gas capacity proposed for Phase I of that project (OGJ Online, Apr. 16, 2003).
Hill-Lake is a high-deliverability, multi-cycle (HDMC) storage facility serving the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, as well as other parts of north, west, and east Texas (OGJ Online, Apr. 3, 2001). The facility connects with TXU Lone Star Pipeline Co.'s X line, as well as the North Texas Pipeline system jointly owned by TXU Fuels Co. and El Paso Natural Gas Co.
Mark Courtney, Falcon's vice-president of storage marketing operations, said the oversubscription demonstrates the need for more HDMC storage serving the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and west Texas markets.
MoBay, which also will be an HDMC facility, is scheduled to be in service during the fourth quarter of 2004, Phase I originally was planned for 20 bcf of working gas capacity and 450 MMcfd of injection and withdrawal capacity.
Mark Fullerton, Falcon's MoBay project manager, said that Falcon is reassessing the Phase 1 design plans for the project based upon the open season response.
The MoBay hub plans direct connections to pipelines serving Florida and the southeastern US: Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corp.'s Mobile Bay lateral, Gulf South Pipeline Co. LP's Mobile Bay lateral, Gulfstream Natural Gas System LLC system at its Station 100, and Florida Gas Transmission Co.'s Mobile Bay lateral.