The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a request from Williams to begin construction on the St. James Supply natural gas expansion project, which would deliver additional gas supplies from the Transco pipeline to a new methanol manufacturing plant in St. James Parish, Louisiana.The project, which was approved by the FERC Jan. 18, will deliver 161,500 Dth/d of incremental firm transportation service to Yuhuang Chemical Inc.’s YCI St. James Enterprises LLC., to service the new $1.85 billion methanol manufacturing complex. Methanol is a chemical building block used in making hundreds of products, from paints and plastics, furniture and carpeting, to car parts and windshield wash fluid.
The St. James project consists of a new 20-inch-diameter lateral pipeline, which would run less than one mile, and one of two metering and regulating stations in St. James Parish, La., at the interconnection for the chemical plant.
The project also includes adding another metering and regulating station in Pointe Coupee Parish, La., and modifications to compressor stations that will allow for bidirectional flow in St. James and St. Helena parishes.