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NYSE: ATG $33.25 -0.04
Aug 28 2008 2:12PM ET
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Project Information |
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Salt Dome Storage |
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Salt Dome Storage
Natural gas has been safely stored underground for more than 60 years. Salt dome caverns, spaces hollowed out of huge salt formations approximately a half-mile to a mile underground, are covered by thousands of feet of rock and other materials, protecting the facility from fire, willful damage and other hazards. The extreme geologic conditions at cavern depth make the salt walls rock hard and virtually impermeable – an excellent container for natural gas, oil and other hydrocarbons.
Natural gas and other energy sources, including oil in the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, are stored in salt dome caverns along the Gulf Coast. Some 47 of these caverns currently store natural gas, including 26 in Texas, with more planned.
The Golden Triangle Storage will include two caverns in its first phase, each initially able to hold up to 6 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of “working gas,” the amount of natural gas that can be put into storage and later withdrawn as needed to serve customers. The caverns also will contain approximately 3 Bcf of “pad gas,” an amount that must remain in the cavern to keep it operable.
Construction of each cavern takes approximately two years, plus another year or so for studies and permitting. Once all the appropriate regulatory authorities approve Golden Triangle Storage’s plans, construction begins.
In a process called solution mining, we first will drill a well deep into the salt dome and begin injecting water into the well, where it circulates and dissolves the salt. We remove the very salty water, called brine, and reinject it through another well into existing salt water reservoirs located in porous or fractured rocks about a mile deep, well below the base of the area’s drinking water table.
Engineers carefully control the amount of water used to shape the cavern and use sonar to check on progress during the construction phase. Once the cavern is complete and “de-watered” - all the brine is removed - it is rigorously tested. Then the cavern is ready to begin storing natural gas. The natural gas travels to the site through a pipeline and is pumped into storage. As needed, the gas is withdrawn and transported to customers.
The Golden Triangle Storage project will include the underground caverns and related piping; a compressor building to house the equipment that powers the operation; a leaching plant, water pumps, freshwater and brine pipelines, and brine disposal wells, used during construction; and a natural gas pipeline that connects the facility to nearby transmission pipelines.
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