ONEOK’s 1,000-Foot Border Segment Upheld in Permian-to-Mexico Pipeline Ruling

A federal appeals court upheld FERC’s approval of a 1,000-foot border pipeline linking West Texas’s Permian Basin to Mexico, rejecting challenges from environmental groups over broader oversight and environmental review.

By Mary Holcomb, Digital Editor

(P&GJ) — In a decision issued Aug. 1, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of a 1,000-foot natural gas pipeline segment crossing the U.S.–Mexico border, rejecting a challenge by environmental groups Sierra Club and Public Citizen.

The pipeline, part of ONEOK Inc.’s Saguaro Connector project, is designed to transport natural gas from the Permian Basin in West Texas to a liquefied natural gas export terminal on Mexico’s Sonoran coast. The 1,000-foot border segment connects a 155-mile intrastate pipeline within Texas to a Mexican pipeline system.

Environmental groups argued FERC should have asserted jurisdiction over the entire 155-mile route inside Texas and considered its broader environmental impacts. The court disagreed, finding that FERC acted within its discretion by limiting jurisdiction to the cross-border segment and deferring regulation of the intrastate portion to Texas authorities.

Judge Justin Walker, writing for the panel, noted FERC’s longstanding practice of regulating only short border-crossing segments of export pipelines and affirmed that approach. “FERC reasonably declined to exercise jurisdiction over the Connector Pipeline,” the opinion stated, citing decades of similar rulings.

The court also rejected claims that FERC’s environmental review was inadequate, concluding the agency was not obligated to assess upstream impacts beyond the 1,000-foot segment. The ruling allows construction of the border segment to proceed, while the longer Texas route remains under state oversight.