By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, June 27 -- Duke Energy International, a unit of Duke Energy Corp., and GPU GasNet, owner of the Victorian gas distribution network, have decided to jointly go ahead with the $250 million South Australian Gas Pipeline project.
The 670-km line will have an initial capacity to transport 45 PJ of gas from western Victoria into Adelaide, South Australia. The size has not been determined, but Duke has said it will be at least 14-in.
The project is still subject to licensing requirements. The companies are preparing a draft statement of environmental objectives and a request for a pipeline survey license. Detailed studies will be prepared. If all goes well, the line could begin construction in 2003 and be complete in 2004.
Duke's proposed pipeline will interconnect with the GPU GasNet system to allow contractual supply of gas into Melbourne from the Otway basin and Moomba, said Australian Minister for Industry, Science, and Resources Sen. Nick Minchin.
The gas may come from BHP Petroleum Pty. Ltd.'s yet-to-be-developed Minerva field off western Victoria and from nearby Otway basin fields (OGJ Online, Jan. 30, 2001).
Minchin said the project is great news for South Australia and will assist in meeting the increasing demand for gas and power in the state.