Gaz M�opolitain & Co. LP and Enbridge Inc. have proposed a $270 million (Can.) project to supply gas from fields off Nova Scotia to markets in New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario.
The 50:50 venture will tie-into the existing Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, which carries gas from off Nova Scotia to the northeastern US.
The Quebec utility and Enbridge will build a 262-km line, dubbed the Cartier pipeline, paralleling the St. Lawrence River from the New Brunswick-Quebec border to Quebec City, where it will interconnect with the existing Canadian gas transmission grid.
The proposed line would have initial capacity of 184 MMcfd of gas, of which 164 MMcfd will be earmarked for Gaz M�opolitain and Enbridge; the rest will be available for other parties. Capacity could be expanded to 340 MMcfd.
The Cartier line will be connected by a second line to the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline north to the New Brunswick-Quebec border near Edmundston. Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline LLC will construct and own this line.
Gaz M�opolitain, Enbridge, and Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline will work to develop plans for the New Brunswick portion of the overall pipeline system.
The lines will provide initial access to natural gas for customers in northern New Brunswick, who will be served by Enbridge Gas New Brunswick, and customers along the St. Lawrence south shore, who will be served by Gaz M�opolitain.
Gaz M�opolitain and Enbridge have retained Duke Energy Marketing LP to acquire the base gas volume supplies of the project.
The companies expect to file applications for both pipelines with the Canadian National Energy Board in spring 2002 and anticipate a late 2004 in-service date.
Robert Tessier, President and CEO of Gaz M�opolitain, the initiator of the project, said, "The additional supply security and diversity provided by a link into the East Coast basin is of strategic importance to Gaz M�opolitain and our Quebec gas customers."
Gaz M�opolitain is Canada's third largest natural gas distributor, serving more than 150,000 customers in Quebec. It also operates in the northeastern US.