Puget Sound Energy (PSE) crews have reportedly finished drilling the last of 10 wells, completing an expansion project phase that began in June 2007, at the gas storage facility. Work is now reported to have shifted to installing new piping and compressors to inject and withdraw natural gas stored underground.
Scheduled for completion in November 2008, the $42 million project will boost the reservoir’s natural gas withdrawal capability by 35%, from 850 million cubic feet (Mmcf) of natural gas per day to 1.15 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per day.
Developed in the early 1960s, Jackson Prairie can store and redeliver 24Bcf of natural gas. PSE, which owns the 3,200-acre reservoir jointly with Avista and Williams, has been steadily increasing the facility’s storage capacity over the past several years. The goal is to reach 30Bcf of working storage capacity by 2012.
After the expansion, Jackson Prairie will be capable of satisfying the natural gas requirements of approximately 1.2 million households during peak winter demand. The expansion project reportedly will increase, by 10%, the total amount of natural gas available to the region’s utilities on a peak day, both from natural gas transportation pipelines and from storage.
