El Paso announces new open seasons for Bahamas-to-Florida pipeline

By OGJ editors

HOUSTON, May 28 -- El Paso Corp., Houston, has announced new open seasons through June 12 for its proposed Seafarer natural gas pipeline system, which will transport natural gas from the Bahamas to southern Florida. The 162-mile, 26-in. system—formerly called Bahama Cay pipeline—will transport 1 bcfd of gas from the planned El Paso Global LNG terminal at Grand Bahama Island to West Palm Bach, Fla. (OGJ, Apr. 1, 2002, p. 9).

Preliminary open seasons were conducted in October 2001, but new open seasons are being held because the project's capacity and scope were expanded from 750 MMcfd to 1 bcfd, an El Paso spokesman said. The new simultaneous open seasons will offer transportation capacity on a nondiscriminatory basis.

The pipeline project will comprise two line sections, one to either side of the boundary of the US Exclusive Economic Zone in the Atlantic Ocean. The first section, to be built and owned by a unit of El Paso, will extend 88 miles from the Grand Bahama Island LNG terminal to the international boundary. Another El Paso unit will develop and operating the remaining 75 mile section, which will connect to the Florida Gas Transmission pipeline system.

El Paso has not disclosed details about the proposed Bahamas LNG terminal. However, the company is recommissioning the Elba Island, Ga., LNG terminal and holds interests in the US's other three existing LNG terminals. It also is a participant in plans to develop LNG regasification terminals on Mexico's Baja California peninsula, to serve California and northern Mexico markets; and at Altarima, Tamaulipas state, on Mexico's eastern coast, to serve rapidly growing power demand for gas in northeastern Mexico.

The Seafarer pipeline system, slated to come on line by the second quarter of 2005, will help meet fuel requirements for Florida's burgeoning power generation market, El Paso said.