Nexus gas line picks up another commitment

OREANDA-NEWS. September 16, 2016. Columbia Gas Transmission has contracted for 48mn cf/d (1mn m?/d) of firm transportation service on Spectra Energy's Nexus Gas Transmission natural gas pipeline.

Spectra Energy and gas and electric utility DTE Energy are the lead developers on the 1.5 Bcf/d greenfield project that would connect markets in northern Ohio, southeastern Michigan and Ontario, Canada, with supplies from the prolific Appalachian shale region via 256 miles (412km) of pipeline.

Large greenfield pipeline projects such as Nexus have met with setbacks in recent months.Regulatory hurdles derailed the Constitution Pipeline to northern New York, although its developers have said they remain committed to the project, and a lack of sufficient commitments ultimately lead to the cancellation of the Northeast Energy Direct line in New England.

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a favorable draft environmental impact statement for the Nexus line in July. At that time the project had already received long-term contracts for more than half of its planned capacity. DTE Energy alone has committed to up to 150mn cf/d on the pipeline. The addition of Columbia Gas' contract brings commitments on the line to at least 854mn cf/d.

The contract is for a primary term of 15 years for gas from receipt points at two planned Nexus interconnections with the Texas Eastern Transmission system in Ohio and Pennsylvania to a planned interconnection with Columbia Gas in Sandusky, Ohio, according to a filing Nexus made with FERC yesterday. The terms also include a negotiated rate statement and service to certain secondary delivery points in Medina County, Ohio.

The agreement confirms the market's "sustained and growing interest in the Nexus project," the filing said. The project continues to receive interest from potential customers, a Spectra Energy spokesman said this week.

FERC is expected to issue its final environmental review of the project in November. The project is still subject to approvals from other federal and state agencies as well as from regulators in Canada. The project's developers plan for it to be in service in November 2017.