By an OGJ Online Correspondent
CALGARY, June 14 -- Westcoast Energy Inc., Vancouver, says the company and partners will invest $1 billion (Can.) to double the size of the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline (M&NP).
The line moves 530 MMcfd of gas from Sable Island fields off Nova Scotia to markets in New England and Atlantic Canada.
Westcoast CEO Michael Phelps said expansion of the M&NP line is a high priority and the Scotian Shelf is a hot frontier play.
Phelps said the line would be expanded within 5 years through looping and additional compression to move 1.2 bcfd. He said it could be further expanded by the end of the decade to handle 2 bcfd at a cost of another $1 billion.
El Paso Corp. and Marathon Oil Co. have also expressed interest in building a pipeline from the region to the US Northeast (OGJ Online, May 4, 2001).
Phelps said Westcoast and partners are in talks with Sable Offshore Energy Inc., headed by ExxonMobil Corp., about a second phase of gas development off Nova Scotia. It is also discussing plans with Calgary-based PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd., which has identified substantial gas reserves at its Deep Panuke field off Nova Scotia.
Panuke has 1 tcf of reserves that could be brought into production by 2005.
Westcoast has a 37.5% interest in the M&NP line. Other partners are Duke Energy Corp. with 37.5%; ExxonMobil 12.5%, and Emera Inc. with 12.5%.