Sempra Plans Second Underground Natural Gas Storage Facility in Louisiana

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Sempra Pipelines and Storage (San Diego, California), a business unit of Sempra Energy Resources (NYSE:SRE) (San Diego California) is planning to construct a second natural gas storage facility just west of Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. The proposed Liberty Gas Storage project will have a working gas capacity of approximately seventeen billion cubic feet. This brings Sempra's total planned natural gas storage capacity in Louisiana to 41 billion cubic feet (Bcf) when considering this project together with its Pine Prairie Energy Center project in Evangeline Parish.

For more information see related May 6, 2004 news article - Sempra Energy Trading Plans to Develop a New Natural Gas Storage Facility in Louisiana

The Liberty Storage Project entails removing the brine from two existing salt cavern structures to create the seventeen Bcf of working gas and the construction of several major surface facilities. The natural gas injection and withdrawal system will have a capacity of 500 million and one billion cubic feet per day. The surface facilities will include the construction of a 16,000 to 24,000 horsepower compressor station utilizing multiple IC engine-based compressor packages and a high volume dehydration unit with several dual 24"-diameter pipeline laterals for the interconnection. The storage facility will have connections with nine area pipelines with a combined takeaway capacity of six Bcf. Sempra plans pipeline interconnections with Cameron Pipeline, Transco, Texas Eastern, Tennessee Pipeline, Florida Gas Transmission, Gulf South Pipeline, Trunkline, Sabine Pipeline, and Varibus Pipeline, as well as some local industrial customers.

Sempra has initiated the permitting process for the $100 million plus project and expects to make a full FERC filing in February of 2005 and begin brine removal by late 2005 or early 2006. The Liberty Gas Storage project could be up and running by late 2006 or early 2007.

View Project Report - 02005498 02005499 02004987 02004988

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