EnCana unveils gas storage facility

Gary Park

Petroleum News Calgary correspondent

EnCana is adding a new gas storage facility in southwest Louisiana to its holdings, with one eye on handling future liquefied natural gas imports.

Through Starks Gas Storage, an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary, the Canadian independent plans to convert underground brine caverns into storage with capacity for 8 billion cubic feet and daily withdrawals of 400 million cubic feet. The facility is 25 miles west of Lake Charles, one of the major receiving points for LNG imports.

ChevronTexaco is awaiting regulatory approvals for a 1.5 bcf per day terminal 60 miles southeast of Lake Charles. The project is scheduled to come on stream in 2006, taking supplies from West Africa or Venezuela.

The EnCana facility will include connections to a number of nearby, large-diameter gas transmission pipelines — with Transco, Tennessee Gas Pipeline and Texas Eastern Pipeline all under consideration.

The project is scheduled to be fully in-service by the third quarter of 2005 and has the potential to expand as market demand grows.