Peru Camisea pipeline capacity to grow by year end

LIMA Oct 28 (Reuters) - The capacity of the only pipeline that moves natural gas from Peru's Camisea field to the coast is expected to expand 43 percent by December, the mining minister said on Wednesday, hoping to calm supply concerns.

The expanded pipeline would be able to handle some 450 million cubic feet of gas per day, up from a current 314 mcf.

The pipeline is operated by Transportadora de Gas del Peru (TGP), which is a group of energy firms that includes Argentina's Pluspetrol and U.S.-based Hunt Oil.

"TGP has made considerable advances in this process of amplification and it's likely to be ready by the end of the year, which is to say December," Mining Minister Pedro Sanchez told Andina, the state news agency.

Critics have piled pressure on President Alan Garcia this year to guarantee domestic gas supplies, saying export of the fuel could lead to local shortages.

The expansion of the pipeline is meant to feed a growing domestic market for the fuel, which nearly doubled last year.

The Camisea consortium says it has some 14.1 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves that would last through 2047, though a recent study by an energy consulting firm estimated a more modest 8.79 tcf. (Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Dana Ford; Editing by Christian Wiessner)