BLM grants El Paso Conditional Right-of-Way for Ruby Pipeline
by El Paso Corporation
July 15, 2010
El Paso Corporation (NYSE: EP) today (July 13, 2010) announced that it has received a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) right-of-way grant for its Ruby Pipeline project. The grant is subject to final completion of cultural treatment plans and related agreements on federal lands along Ruby's 680-mile route. Ruby previously received a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and it will begin construction as soon as it receives a FERC Notice to Proceed and Construct. The $3 billion project is scheduled to be in service in March 2011.
"We are very pleased to receive conditional BLM approval for this important infrastructure project," said Jim Cleary, president of El Paso's Western Pipeline Group. "We expect to satisfy the BLM conditions and receive our FERC notice to proceed very soon and begin construction shortly thereafter. Once constructed, Ruby will play an important role in linking abundant supplies of cleaning-burning natural gas in the Rockies to markets in western states, helping fuel economic growth in an environmentally friendly manner."
Ruby is a 42-inch interstate natural gas transmission pipeline, which will access significant Rockies supplies and make them available to consuming markets in California, Nevada, and the Pacific Northwest. Ruby will transport natural gas from an existing supply hub at Opal, Wyoming, to interconnections near Malin, Oregon. It will have an initial design capacity of 1.5 billion cubic feet per day.
El Paso has entered into agreements with Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), whereby GIP will invest up to $700 million in the Ruby project. Upon satisfaction of various closing conditions, GIP will acquire a 50 percent equity interest in the project.
El Paso Corporation provides natural gas and related energy products in a safe, efficient, and dependable manner. The company owns North America's largest interstate natural gas pipeline system and one of North America's largest independent natural gas producers. For more information, visit www.elpaso.com.
Source: http://investor.elpaso.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=97166&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1447107&highlight=
|
