Houston-based Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America received permission Jan. 22 from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to begin building its Lockridge extension pipeline project (capacity 500,000 MMcfd) in Pecos, Reeves and Ward counties. The extension project will connect the company’s system to the Waha hub in Pecos County. The 16.8-mile pipeline (30 inches) will provide southbound capacity on the existing Lockridge pipeline and link the system to a new bidirectional interconnect with Trans Pecos pipeline at Waha. NGPL, co-owned and operated by Kinder Morgan, said construction will start May 4 with an in-service date of Sept. 12. The request to FERC was made Dec. 13.