Overview
Sawgrass Storage, L.L.C. (“Sawgrass”), has filed for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to develop and operate a new strategically located underground natural gas storage facility northwest of Monroe, Louisiana in Lincoln and Union Parishes. Sawgrass has completed preliminary engineering to develop an existing depleted natural gas reservoir formation into a facility capable of initially providing up to 30 Bcf of working gas capacity and offering flexible services at market-based rates. Sawgrass is a joint venture between subsidiaries of Samson and AGL Resources Inc. Samson is a privately-held energy exploration and production company with more than 1,000 employees (see www.samson.com). AGL Resources is a Fortune 1000 corporation (NYSE: GAS) with extensive natural gas storage and distribution operations (see http://www.aglresources.com).News
November 23, 2011
The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC Staff) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) in compliance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act for the Sawgrass Storage project.
FERC Staff has determined that “if Sawgrass constructs and operates the proposed facilities in accordance with its application and supplements and our recommended mitigation, approval of this proposal would not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.” The Staff recommends that the FERC Order regarding the project contains a finding of no significant impact.
Sawgrass has requested authorization to construct and operate a new natural gas storage facility and related pipeline facilities in a depleted natural gas reservoir located in Lincoln and Union Parishes, Louisiana. The project would provide a working gas storage capacity of approximately 30 billion cubic feet to provide firm and interruptible storage services and interruptible hub (parking, loaning, balancing and imbalance trading) services at market-based rates. Once completed, the project would allow for continued production and efficient utilization of transportation capacity in numerous natural gas producing regions throughout Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana, and provide supplemental natural gas supply during periods of peak natural gas usage. An interconnect with the Midcontinent Express Pipeline system would also serve markets in the southeastern, midwestern, and northeastern United States.
The Staff is accepting comments on the EA and has requested that any comments should be received in Washington, DC on or before December 23, 2011. Sawgrass anticipates beginning construction in March 2012 and would begin injection of base gas in August 2012 as circumstances allow. Commercial services would commence in April 2013.