Black Bayou Gas Storage LLC (Black Bayou) has filed an application with the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to construct, own, operate, and maintain a high-deliverability salt dome natural gas storage facility on the Black Bayou salt dome in Cameron Parish and Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. The Black Bayou Storage Project will be located approximately 15 miles (24.1 km) west of Hackberry, Louisiana, and consist of four salt storage caverns with a total working gas capacity of approximately 34.7 Bcf (982.5 x 106 m3), a 44,000 hp (32,824 kW) compressor station, two 27.1-mile (43.6-km), 24-in. (609-mm) diameter, looped bi-directional header pipelines interconnecting the project’s natural gas storage caverns to multiple interstate natural gas pipelines, and related facilities.
The Black Bayou salt dome is located 7 miles (11.2 km) east of the Louisiana/Texas border, 18 miles (28.9 km) north of the Gulf of Mexico coastline, and less than 25 miles (40.2 km) from growing industrial demand centers in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Port Arthur, Texas. The project will utilize the Black Bayou salt dome to provide high turn natural gas storage services, and the project’s header pipelines will be interconnected to 10 interstate natural gas pipelines in the Gulf region, allowing the project to provide the gas balancing needs of a broad range of customers interconnected to the natural gas grid, including gas-fired electric generation facilities, local distribution companies, liquefied natural gas facilities, natural gas producers, natural gas marketers, and others.
The construction of the header pipelines is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2025, with the anticipated in-service date occurring in the first quarter of 2026, at which time Black Bayou proposes to commence providing wheeling services. The first two natural gas storage caverns (Cavern 1 and Cavern 2) are scheduled to be placed in service by fourth quarter 2028, with the remaining two natural gas storage caverns (Cavern 3 and Cavern 4) scheduled to be placed in service by fourth quarter 2030.
Planned Compression
Black Bayou will construct a compressor station that will house eight, 5500 hp (4103 kW) reciprocating compressors to produce an overall estimated output of 44,000 hp. Each unit will be comprised of a Caterpillar G3616 A4 engine and an Ariel KBZ compressor. The compressor station will be used to receive and compress gas from the header pipelines for injection into the caverns and to deliver gas back into the header pipelines and third-party pipelines.
The facilities inside the gas storage area, including the compressor station, will be capable of the following operations: receipt of pipeline gas and compression and injection of that gas into storage; free flow of gas to storage when cavern pressure allows; withdrawal, dehydration, and delivery of cavern gas to the header pipelines and third-party pipelines; withdrawal, dehydration, compression, and delivery of cavern gas to the header pipelines and third-party pipelines when cavern pressure requires; and receipt of gas from third-party pipelines and redelivery to third-party pipelines.
