Florida Gas Transmission Co. (FGT) has begun constructing a new pipeline from Tampa to Fort Myers. The project is part of its Phase IV expansion, which will extend its 4,700-mile transmission system by 139 miles. With an expected in-service date of May 2001, the $268 million project will add more than 38,000 hp of compression and associated facilities and will provide about 197 MMcfd of incremental firm transportation service. Seven shippers have executed 20-year firm commitments for the incremental service, net of turn-back capacity. FGT Pres. Rockford G. Meyer said, "We are pleased to make gas available to Southwest Florida for the first time through our expansion into the Fort Myers area." FGT awarded the Phase IV construction contract to Latex Construction of Conyers, Ga. FGT's Phase V expansion project, filed with the FERC Dec. 1, 1999, has a target in-service date of April 2002. Phases IV and V will add more than 600 MMcfd of incremental mainline capacity in Florida.
Peru will hold the tender for the second stage of the Camisea natural gas project on June 22, according to Minister of Energy and Mines Jorge Chamot. The tender will involve construction and operation of processing plants and pipeline facilities for the transport and distribution of natural gas and liquids from the Camisea fields, 310 miles east of Lima. The pipeline will transport Camisea gas across the Andes to Ca�ete or Pisco on Peru's southern coast. The first stage of the project, which involves development of the Camisea gas fields, was won Feb. 16 by a consortium of Argentina's Pluspetrol Resources Corp., 40%; Hunt Oil Co. of Peru, 40%; and South Korea's SK Corp. Sucursal Peruana, 20%. Chamot estimates required investment in the transport-distribution concession at about $1 billion over the life of the project. The Pluspetrol consortium expects to invest around $1.6 billion over the next 40 years; it estimates expenditures for the first stage of the contract at $400 million.