By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, July 18 -- French and Spanish companies are considering building a 10.7 million euro natural gas pipeline to improve gas transmission between the two countries.
Gaz du Sud-Ouest -- owned 70% by TotalFinaElf SA and 30% by Gaz de France SA -- and Spanish company Ente Vasco de Energia and its affiliate Gas de Euskadi are considering building a 29-km, 500 million cu m line along the Basque coastline.
They expect a decision in September. The European Union will subsidize the cost as part of a policy to bolster gas links between EU countries.
The line would run between Bidart, south of the French coastal town of Biarritz, to Spain's Irun, adding a link to the countries' gas networks.
The line would be on stream in the winter of 2002-03.
GSO and EVE are also considering building, by 2010, a high-capacity link between Bilbao, Spain, and the underground gas storage reservoir in Lussagnet, France. That 328-km line could cost 137 million euros. A feasibility study is ongoing.