The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a final order authorizing Williams, Tulsa, to increase capacity on its Transco pipeline system by 204,099 dekatherms/day to provide additional firm transportation capacity to Alabama and Georgia. The $108 million SouthCoast expansion will require about 44 miles of 48, 42, and 24-in. pipeline, as well as an additional 31,500 hp of compression at compressor stations in Rockford, Ala., and Newnan, Ga. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer, with service beginning Nov. 1. Gary Lauderdale, senior vice-president and general manager, Williams' Transco pipeline, said the expansion will serve the fast-growing southeastern market.
Diesel fuel and other refined products began flowing this week through the newly renovated 77-mile stretch of the Cenex Harvest States Cooperatives' Cenex Pipeline near Sarpy Creek, Mont. The new segment replaces pipeline that had been in operation since 1954. The pipeline segment had been operating properly but was beginning to show wear, prompting the need for the 2-year, $13 million renovation project, said Cenex. During the project, the pipe was rerouted away from major highways not in existence when the pipeline was first built and away from environmentally sensitive areas. "Our objective in voluntarily undertaking this replacement effort was to maintain our solid record of both providing our customers with a reliable supply of quality products and being a good environmental steward and neighbor," says Dan Knepper, vice-president of energy services for Cenex. Cenex is a producer-to-consumer cooperative system owned by farmers, ranchers, and their local co-ops in several US Midwest and western states. The 210-mile Cenex pipeline carries 28,000 b/d of product from the Cenex refinery at Laurel, Mont., to Fargo, ND.
