(Reuters) – The North Baja Pipeline LLC unit of Canadian energy company TC Energy Corp on Thursday applied to U.S. regulators for permission to bring into service sections of the North Baja pipeline development in Arizona and California.
The expansion of the northern Baja pipeline, with a capacity of 495 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd), will supply more US natural gas to Mexico, including the Costa Azul liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant of the US company Sempra Energy, which is under construction.
The $2 billion Costa Azul project, located on Mexico’s Pacific coast, will be able to process some 430 mmcfd of natural gas into LNG when it comes online in mid-2025.
One billion cubic feet of gas can supply about five million Americans for one day.
The Northern Baja expansion cost about $127 million, according to US data.
In an application to the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Baja Norte said it approved the equipment expansion in April 2022.
Baja North said it completed work on some of the facilities earlier this year and has already sought permission from FERC to bring the rest into service.
Baja Norte is a two-way pipeline that came online in 2002. It can transport gas from Arizona to California and Mexico and from Mexico to California and Arizona.
Prior to the 2023 modernization, northern Baja could transport about 500 MMcfd of gas south from Arizona to California and Mexico, and about 614 MMcfd north from Mexico to California, and up to 695 MMcfd from northern California to Arizona, according to federal data.
