In the race to obtain as much of the bounteous Florida market aspossible, Williams has taken the early lead over Coastal as thecompany reported 1.3 Bcf/d in nominations received during theBuccaneer Pipeline open season. The open season ended in lateMarch.

The Buccaneer is one of two planned pipelines that would extendfrom Alabama’s Mobil Bay to Florida’s Gulf Coast. Coastal’sGulfstream Natural Gas System is the other project. The Buccaneeris designed to extend 420 miles to Florida, then branch out in aneasterly direction for 250 miles to serve the center of the state.Coastal also held an open season for the Gulstream pipeline, butthe results are not available.

“This tremendous response from the market confirms our view thatthere is significant demand for natural gas in the state ofFlorida,” said Cuba Wadlington Jr., senior Vice president ofWilliams Gas Pipeline-Transco. “We believe the proposed BuccaneerGas Pipeline is the most economic and environmentally responsibledesign to meet Florida’s rapidly increasing energy needs.”

Williams expects the state to need more than 10,000 MW ofadditional power generation capacity by 2007, which would requirean additional 1.5 Bcf/d of gas.

Williams plans to file the project with FERC during the thirdquarter of this year. The project is expected to be completed byApril 2002. The precise route of the Buccaneer has not beendetermined yet, and Williams is still meeting with public officialsof Central Florida to determine the best path.

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