The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted Gulf South Pipeline Co. LP's request to place the Brazos compressor station, part of the 1.42-Bcf/d Coastal Bend Header project in Fort Bend County, Texas, into service.

In a May 22 order, FERC said it based the approval on a review of Gulf South's recent biweekly construction progress reports, third-party compliance inspections, and photographs the company had submitted. The regulator found that the company had adequately stabilized areas disturbed by construction and that restoration was proceeding satisfactorily.

FERC approved Gulf South to start construction on the Coastal Bend Header project in December 2016, after issuing a certificate for the project in June 2016. A big part of the project, which includes a 66-mile, 36-inch-diameter header pipeline and new compressor stations in Texas, was designed to support the Freeport LNG Development LP export terminal on Quintana Island in Texas. (FERC docket CP15-517)