A proposal has been filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to develop a natural gas storage facility in underground salt deposits northeast of Eloy in southern Arizona [right, proposed site is shown in blue and yellow striped boxes near bottom of map. Credit, AZ Oil and Gas Conservation Commission] If approved, it would be the first such facility in the state.
NGS Energy LP has set up Arizona Natural Gas Storage LLC (ANGS) to create up to 8 salt caverns under the 1,050 acre site on private and State Trust lands. The facility is intended to eventually have storage capacity of 20 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas.
The project would construct 27 miles of pipelines to connect to regional pipelines to supply gas-fired electric power plants.
ANGS plans to dissolve the caverns in the salt and dispose of the resulting brine by evaporation from 350 acres of surface ponds on the project site.