KANSAS CITY, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Inergy, L.P. (NYSE:NRGY) announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Inergy Midstream, LLC, is conducting a non-binding open season for firm storage capacity at its Tres Palacios natural gas storage facility. The expansion capacity of up to 7 Bcf is available ahead of schedule beginning March 1, 2011, as a result of the de-brining progress made on the third cavern. The remaining 4.4 Bcf of capacity on this third cavern is expected to be available by April 1, 2011.
The Tres Palacios gas storage facility is a multi-cycle, salt dome natural gas storage field located approximately 100 miles southwest of Houston in Matagorda County, Texas. The facility includes 38.4 BCF of FERC-certificated working gas capacity, including the third cavern capacity referenced above, with planned future expansion to 47.9 BCF. The storage facility is strategically situated near the Eagle Ford Shale and is one of the largest gas-fired power generation markets in the United States.
The Tres Palacios gas storage facility is a Hub point listed on the Intercontinental Exchange (“ICE”) for natural gas transactions and together with its existing header system provides access to a combination of 10 interstate and intrastate pipelines providing significant commercial opportunities to firm storage customers. Inergy acquired the Tres Palacios storage facility in October 2010.
The non-binding open season will commence on February 9, 2011, and will close February 17, 2011, at 5:00 p.m. Central Time.
For questions concerning this open season or for service request forms, contact Bruce Page at (281) 453-5306 or Jeff Reavis at (281) 453-5307. Service request forms may also be obtained by emailing bpage@inergyservices.com.
At the conclusion of the open season, the value of each submitted offer will be determined and awarded based on offers producing the highest net present value. Tres Palacios reserves the right to reject any bid under terms set forth in section (3) 3.1 (d) of its FERC gas tariff and general terms and conditions.
About Inergy Midstream, LLC
Inergy Midstream, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Inergy, L.P., owns and operates the Tres Palacios gas storage facility, the Stagecoach gas storage facility, the Thomas Corners gas storage facility, and the Steuben gas storage facility. These four natural gas storage facilities have a combined 78 Bcf of working gas capacity. Inergy Midstream also owns and operates a solution mining and salt production company, US Salt, LLC, and a liquefied petroleum gas (“LPG”) storage facility, Finger Lakes LPG Storage, near Watkins Glen, NY.
About Inergy, L.P.
Inergy, L.P., with headquarters in Kansas City, MO, is among the fastest growing master limited partnerships in the country. Inergy's operations include the retail marketing, sale, and distribution of propane to residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural customers. Today, Inergy serves over 700,000 retail customers from over 350 customer service centers throughout the United States. Inergy also operates a 78 Bcf natural gas storage business; a natural gas liquids supply logistics, transportation, and wholesale marketing business serving independent dealers and multi-state marketers in the United States and Canada; and a solution-mining and salt production company.
This news release contains forward-looking statements, which are statements that are not historical in nature such as the expectations that: (1) Tres Palacios will further expand its storage capacity in the future; and (2) the commercial operations associated with up to 7 Bcf of capacity is expected to commence by March 1, 2011, and the additional 4.4 Bcf of capacity is expected to be available by April 1, 2011. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize or any underlying assumption proves incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, estimated, or projected. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those referred to in the forward-looking statements are: weather conditions that vary significantly from historically normal conditions, the demand for high deliverability natural gas storage capacity in the United States, the general level of petroleum product demand and the availability of supplies, and whether necessary regulatory approvals will be obtained. These and other risks and assumptions are described in Inergy’s annual report on Form 10-K and other reports that are available from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
Corporate news, unit prices, and additional information about Inergy, including reports from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, are available on the Company’s web site, www.InergyLP.com. For more information, contact Mike Campbell in Inergy’s Investor Relations Department at 816-842-8181 or via e-mail at investorrelations@inergyservices.com.