The U.S. Department of Energy is considering leasing to private companies six of its pipelines in Texas and Louisiana that connect Strategic Petroleum Reserve storage sites with commercial terminals.
The SPR's St. James marine terminal on the Mississippi River also would be offered for private use.
DOE began considering leasing the facilities after several private as said they were interested in using them. Ceases would stipulate that DOE would have full use of the distribution system during a drawdown.
DOE asked companies to notify it by Apr. 15 of their interest in specific facilities, the length of proposed leases, and other terms. It expects to issue a formal solicitation in June or July to invite bids from companies.
operators of the pipelines probably would be required to be common carriers, which would allow other shippers to use the lines after making arrangements with the lessee.
Here are SPR facilities under consideration for leasing:
- A 40 in., 46.3 mile pipeline from the Bryan Mound storage site near Freeport, Tex., to the ARCO pipeline terminal at Texas City, Tex.
- A 36 in., 37.2 mile line from the Bayou Choctaw site southwest of Baton Rouge, La., to the St. James marine terminal on the Mississippi River 45 miles west of New Orleans.
- A 36 in., 24.4 mile line from the Big Hill site southwest of Beaumont, Tex., to Nederland, Tex., with connections to Texaco's Houston pipeline, the Sun marine terminal, and Unocal's marine terminal.
- A 36 in., 67.2 mile pipeline from the Weeks Island site 95 miles northwest of New Orleans to the St. James marine terminal.
- A 42 in., 40 mile line from the West Hackberry site southwest of Lake Charles, La., to the Sun marine terminal at Nederland.
- A 36 in., 13.6 mile line from the West Hackberry site to Texaco's 9" in. common carrier pipeline at Lake Charles, La.
- The St. James marine terminal at Milepost 158 on the Mississippi with two docks for 123,000 dwt tankers, six above ground storage tanks with 2 million bbl capacity, and pipeline connections to the adjacent Capline and Locap terminals.
