Gas storage field planned near Bakersfield

A California company has proposed to construct a natural gas storage facility in depleted Ten Section gas field 10 miles southwest of Bakersfield that would enter service in January 2012.

June 16, 2009

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, June 16 -- A California company has proposed to construct a natural gas storage facility in depleted Ten Section gas field 10 miles southwest of Bakersfield that would enter service in January 2012.

Tricor Ten Section Hub LLC said the field would have 22.4 bcf of working gas capacity and 10.1 bcf of base gas. It said the field would provide four high-speed cycles per year with a maximum withdrawal rate of 1 bcfd and a maximum injection rate of 0.8 bcfd.

An application filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said the field will initially connect with the Kern River-Mojave interstate pipeline.

Later potential tie-ins with California’s two intrastate systems, Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Gas Co., would give the hub a “combined lateral surrounding optionality” of more than 4 bcfd.

Tricor started an open season for Ten Section’s capacity on June 1. It asked that the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issue a certificate by February 2010.

Ten Section field was discovered in 1936.