Energy Transfer Partners LP unit Houston Pipe Line Co. LP (HLPC) has received approval from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to build a 23-mile, 24-in. OD extension of its Edinburgh lateral to export 140 MMcfd of natural gas to northern Mexico starting in this year’s fourth quarter. The extension will extend under the Rio Grande River between Hidalgo County, Tex., and Reynosa, Mexico, supplying industrial users and power plants.
The river crossing will require a 1,306-ft horizontal directional drill at an alignment depth 25 ft below the Rio Grande and connect to Pemex Pipeline S de RL de CV on the Mexican side of the border. The extension will have a designed maximum allowable operating pressure of 1,300 psig, but Houston Pipeline expects it to operate at 850 psig. The project will include installation of a meter station and other auxiliary equipment.
HPLC expects the extension to ultimately have interconnections with other intrastate and interstate pipelines and markets. Gas supplies with predominately be Texas-sourced, but non-Texas gas will also be eligible for shipment.
FERC issued NET Midstream subsidiary NET Mexico Pipeline Partners LLC a permit last year to build a 2.1-bcfd gas export site at the US-Mexico border (OGJ Online, Nov. 19, 2013). Supplies would come from the Agua Dulce Hub in Neuces County, Tex.