UTOS Gas Pipeline

From Global Energy Monitor
This article is part of the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.
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UTOS Gas Pipeline, also known as the U-T Offshore System, is a fossil gas pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico. As of 2024, the pipeline is idle, and intended to be repurposed for use within the Delfin FLNG Terminal project.[1][2]

Location

The pipeline runs from the Gulf of Mexico to Johnson's Bayou in Cameron Parrish, Louisiana.[3]

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Project details

Background

The UTOS Gas Pipeline is owned and operated by Delfin LNG LLC. Delfin acquired the pipeline from Enbridge in 2014, three years after its operations stopped, and is planning to repurpose it to serve its proposed offshore floating LNG facility, the Delfin FLNG Terminal.[9][10]

The UTOS pipeline "lies immediately downstream of the High Island Offshore System (HIOS)" and originates on the outer continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico.[3] The UTOS received wet gas from four different sources: the HIOS pipeline system and three other pipeline systems associated with production facilities in WC Blocks 130B, 116, and 61.[3]

The UTOS pipeline system was connected to several interstate pipeline systems, including the Transcontinental Gas Pipeline, the Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America, and the ANR Pipeline.[11] The UTOS pipeline was abandoned in 2011 due to decreasing flow volumes.[11] Later, in 2014, Delfin LNG LCC acquired the pipeline from Enbrige, planning to "restore the pipeline's connections with the interstate networks, as well as perform modifications to reverse the flow."[11]

Image showing a network of pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico
Delfin LNG project's pipeline network, including the Grand Chenier Pipeline System, the High Island Offshore Pipeline (HIOS), and the UTOS pipeline, as well as the Delfin Offshore pipeline, which is the proposed bypass to connect the HIOS and UTOS pipelines. Modified from https://jpt.spe.org/mol-invests-in-delfin-flng-project

In November 2013 Delfin LNG filed an application with the Department of Energy (DOE) seeking to construct, own, and operate a deepwater port with floating liquefaction and export facilities, and related onshore facilities, in West Cameron Block 167 in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 30 miles offshore of Cameron Parish, Louisiana. The facility is planned to produce 657.5 Bcf/yr of natural gas to export to countries with whom the U.S. does not have free trade agreements.[12] It is proposed to consist of four semi-permanently moored floating LNG vessels, each capable of storing 210,000 cubic meters of LNG, and with a production capacity of 3.3 mtpa of the chilled fuel each.[13]

The Delfin LNG project plans to deliver fossil gas "through two existing offshore natural gas pipelines of the former U-T Offshore System (UTOS) and the High Island Offshore System (HIOS) to be liquefied on four moored FLNGVs and transferred to LNG carriers."[4] To do this, "a new 700-foot 42-inch diameter pipeline[14] would be constructed to bypass an existing offshore platform at West Cameron lease block 167 (WC 167) and connect the UTOS and HIOS pipelines."[4] Additionally, Delfin Midstream, owner of Delfin LNG LCC, also owns the offshore Grand Chenier pipeline, which is planned to be used to support the growth and expansion of its deepwater projects, including the Delfin LNG project.[1][15]

Articles and resources

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Assets - Delfin Midstream". delfinmidstream.com. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Delfin Floating LNG Project, Gulf of Mexico". Offshore Technology. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 John A. Gale (8 March 2011). "U.S Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration" (PDF). Retrieved July 18, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 U.S. Coast Guard, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (November 2016). "Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Port Delfin LNG Project Deepwater Port Application Volume I: Main Text" (PDF). Retrieved July 18, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. Smith, Christopher E. (2020-10-12). "Delfin completes Gulf of Mexico FLNG FEED". Oil & Gas Journal. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  6. "https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2018/11/f57/draft-eis-0531-port-delfin-lng-app-m-2016-07.pdf" (PDF). {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. 7.0 7.1 DOE/FE Order No. 3393, DOE, Feb. 20, 2014
  8. 8.0 8.1 "Project Spotlight: Delfin LNG: An Innovative Approach to FLNG [LNG Condensed]". www.naturalgasworld.com. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  9. Delfin LNG Completes Acquisition of Pipeline System for Deepwater LNG Port LNG Lawblog, Nov. 21, 2014
  10. Delfin LNG: A Unique US Liquefaction Project, Gas Electric Partnership, June 2016
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Delfin Floating LNG Project, Gulf of Mexico". Offshore Technology. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  12. Record of Decision and Floodplain Statement of Findings for the Delfin LNG LLC Application to Export Liquefied Natural Gas to Non-Free Trade Agreement Countries, DOE, Jun. 1, 2017
  13. MARAD approves first U.S. FLNG project, LNG World News, Jun. 2, 2017
  14. Oil and Gas Watch. "Project Location Map" (PDF). Retrieved July 18, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. "MOL Invests in Delfin FLNG Project". JPT. 2023-06-13. Retrieved 2024-07-19.

Related GEM.wiki articles

External resources

External articles

Wikipedia also has an article on UTOS Gas Pipeline (Enbridge Pipelines). This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License].