NATURAL GAS SUPPLY ASSOCIATION

CONTACT: Charlotte LeGates

PHONE: 202/326-9316

FAX: 202/326-9334

E-MAIL: clegates@ngsa.org

NGSA is frequently asked about the amount of natural gas that proposed transmission projects in the Gulf of Mexico might contribute to the natural gas marketplace. NGSA's Director of Regulatory Affairs and Technical Analysis, Philip Budzik, lists the following as the potential contribution from several of the major proposals:

Project				MMcf/day

DIGS Expansion			500
Garden Banks			600
Green Canyon			515
Mississippi Canyon		600
Nautilus			640
Viosca Knoll			550
TOTAL				4,105 or 1.5 Tcf annually

These figures are based on the following assumptions:

• The projects are built as designed
• They are all operated at full capacity (i.e. a 100 percent capacity factor).

However, with respect to the first assumption:

• It is not clear they will all be built
• Even if they are all built, their capacity could be doubled by adding compression (so in the longer term they could contribute as much as 3 Tcf/year in incremental gas supplies).

With respect to the second assumption, it is more than likely that the projects will operate at a capacity factor between 90 and 95 percent rather than at 100 percent (or 1.35 Tcf/year rather than 1.5 Tcf/year).

This page was last updated August 31, 1997.