Enbridge has signed an exclusive option to acquire the TTC Connector, a 25-mile pipeline designed to move 300 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of natural gas from its Tres Palacios storage facility to the Coastal Bend Header system, which delivers directly to the Freeport LNG export terminal on Quintana Island in Brazoria County, Texas.

The TTC Connector is under construction. The company expects it to enter service by the end of 2026.

What does the connector actually link?

The pipeline would connect Tres Palacios, Enbridge's gas storage site in Texas, to the Coastal Bend Header pipeline — the line feeding Freeport LNG. Freeport is one of the largest operating LNG export terminals in the United States and worldwide, processing and moving 2.23 billion cubic feet per day, equivalent to roughly 17 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).

Elizabeth Perez, Director of Intrastate Business Development with Enbridge's Gas Transmission business, called the TTC Connector a "last-mile" LNG supply project linking a major Gulf Coast storage asset to an LNG export terminal.

Perez added: "It's a prime example of the growing integration between storage, transmission and LNG export facilities as the world's demand for American LNG exports continues to grow."

How large is Enbridge's Gulf Coast storage position?

Enbridge already held about 10% of available gas storage capacity on the U.S. Gulf Coast as of last year. Since then, it has sanctioned expansions at three of its four Gulf Coast storage facilities:

• Egan, Louisiana — additional 16 bcf
• Moss Bluff, Texas — additional 7 bcf
• Tres Palacios, Texas — additional 25 bcf

The expansions will bring capacity across its four Gulf Coast storage facilities to roughly 150 bcf by 2033.

Matthew Akman, Executive Vice President and President of Enbridge's Gas Transmission business, said: "We've now got almost 50 bcf of expansion (projects) across our own wholly owned Gulf Coast storage facilities. So lots of opportunity there."

Sanctioned expansion versus option-stage acquisition

The storage expansions are announced projects with defined volumes and a 2033 completion horizon. The TTC Connector acquisition, by contrast, remains at option stage: Enbridge has exclusivity but has not yet exercised the option to buy the asset.

What is firm is the pipeline itself — under construction, with an in-service target of end-2026 and a defined role moving gas from storage toward one of the country's largest export terminals.

The watch item

Track whether Enbridge exercises the option on the TTC Connector, and the pace of the three storage expansions toward the 150 bcf target by 2033. Timing on both fronts is tied to demand growth at U.S. LNG export terminals along the Gulf Coast.