By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Oct. 4 -- Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline LLC said an open season indicated strong interest in the proposed Phase IV expansion of its gas pipeline from Nova Scotia to New England.
It said local distribution companies, electric generators, and third-party marketers nominated more than 1.7 bcfd for transportation service on Maritimes' Canadian facilities and nearly 1.3 bcfd were received for transportation service in the US.
The Canadian nominations requested deliveries along the mainline and laterals to Point Tupper, Halifax, and Saint John. The US nominations requested deliveries of substantial volumes into Algonquin Gas Transmission Co.'s proposed HubLine interconnection in Beverly, Mass. The majority of the nominations seek services in the 2004-06 time frame.
Earlier this year, Maritimes agreed to move up to 400 MMcfd from PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd.'s Deep Panuke project off Nova Scotia. Maritimes will invest $380 million (US) to expand its capacity to 1 bcfd, nearly doubling the existing system capacity.
Maritimes expects to seek Phase IV expansion permits from US and Canadian government agencies later this year.
Maritimes is owned by affiliates of Duke Energy Co. and Westcoast Energy Inc., both with 37.5%, and ExxonMobil Corp. and Emera Inc., both with 12.5%.
