Note:  Did this request really happen this way?  Why would the FERC ask one 
pipeline to expand and not all of them feeding
the state.  What have you all heard?

FERC Asks El Paso to Expand

A key FERC staffer this week asked El Paso Natural Gas to consider switching 
its Line 2000 crude-oil conversion from a replacement project to an expansion 
of its existing system to ease pipeline capacity constraints to the 
California border. 

"I am writing to inquire about the feasibility of modifying the...project in 
a manner which could assist the difficult situation now confronting the 
California gas market," said Daniel M. Adamson, director of FERC's Office of 
Energy Projects. 

In August, El Paso filed an application to acquire an existing 30-inch 
diameter, 1,088-mile crude oil pipeline from Plains All American Pipeline 
L.P., and convert part of it to natural gas transportation. The line extends 
from McCamey, TX, to Bakersfield, CA. El Paso seeks to convert the 785-mile 
segment from McCamey to Ehrenberg, AZ, to gas. El Paso proposed the Line 2000 
project as a loop line to replace existing compression, and not as a system 
expansion. 

"It appears that if El Paso kept the six...compressor stations on the line 
and implemented any necessary facility additions and modifications to 
integrate the converted line with its existing South System, it may be 
possible for El Paso to increase its delivery capacity into California," 
Adamson said. 

He asked El Paso to consider this option, given "the current difficult energy 
situation there [in California] and the consequent need to examine all 
possible options for substantive relief" of the situation. "I am interested 
in your thoughts on this matter, including the feasibility of such an 
expansion, the magnitude of facilities and costs which might be involved, who 
would bear those costs, and possible procedural approaches." 

If this "is not a viable option, please indicate whether El Paso is 
considering other options for system expansion which would enhance gas 
transmission capacity into California," Adamson wrote. 


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