El Paso begins open season for extra capacity into California | Oil & Gas Journal

By the OGJ Online Staff

HOUSTON, July 10 -- El Paso Natural Gas Co., a subsidiary of El Paso Corp., has begun a binding open season for 320 MMcfd of pipeline capacity from West Texas to the California border.

The open season will close Aug. 2. It follows a nonbonding open season in March.

El Paso plans to add compression to its Line 2000 from the Keystone and Waha areas of the Permian basin near McCamey, Tex., to the border near Ehrenberg, Ariz.

The delivery points will be Southern California Gas Co. and PG&E Corp.'s proposed North Baja pipeline; El Paso's bi-directional lateral, Line 1903; any future incremental capacity into the SoCal system; and any upstream points on El Paso's south mainline system with excess capacity.

The expansion capacity will be sold at El Paso's existing maximum California tariff rate, and the fuel charge is estimated to be 5%.

The projected in-service date of the expansion facilities is mid-2003, subject to regulatory approval.

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