On June 16, the members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a Feb. 4 application from Impulsora Pipeline LLC for an amendment to its authorization under Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) and a Presidential Permit, since it no longer plans to construct one of the previously-authorized parallel pipelines in Texas at the international boundary between the U.S. and Mexico.
Impulsora is wholly owned by Nueva Era Pipeline LLC, which is owned through intermediate entities equally by affiliates of Howard Midstream EnergyPartners LLC and Grupo Clisa.
In May 2015, the commission granted Impulsora authorization under Section 3 of the NGA and a Presidential Permit to construct and operate pipeline facilities in Webb County, Texas. The authorized border-crossing facilities included parallel 36-inch- and 12-inch-diameter pipelines to transport natural gas export and import volumes between the U.S. and Mexico as authorized by the Secretary of Energy.
Impulsora stated that it has a service agreement with the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), the state-owned electric utility of Mexico, to transport up to 504,000 million British thermal units per day (MMBtu/day) of natural gas to the international border where a Mexican pipeline, Midstream de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., will receive and deliver the gas in Mexico for the CFE.
Impulsora has recently determined that it will only need the 36-inch-diameter pipeline in order to provide service and therefore does not intend to construct the 12-inch-diameter pipeline, thus the need for the FERC-approved changes.
Impulsora filed a separate request on Feb. 4 with FERC requesting an extension of time to construct the 36-inch-diameter pipeline. Impulsora explained the extension of time was needed due to the time it had been in engaged in negotiations with the CFE. On March 3, the commission’s Office of Energy Projects issued a delegated letter order granting Impulsora’s request for an extension of time until June 1, 2017, to complete construction of the 36-inch-diameter pipeline.
