A subsidiary of EnCana Corp. has asked for approval to construct and operate a 51-mile-long, 24-inch sweet natural gas pipeline from a company plant near Fort Nelson, BC to a tie-in point on NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd.’s northwest mainline, just east of the Alberta/British Columbia border near Rainbow Lake, AB.

The National Energy Board (NEB) received an application from EnCana Ekwan Pipeline Inc. to build the pipe from the EnCana Oil & Gas Partnership’s Sierra Plant, which is located near Fort Nelson. EnCana would construct the pipeline and associated facilities during the winter of 2003/2004, with a proposed in-service date in April 2004. The estimated cost of the proposed project is C$50 million. NEB said Tuesday it would soon announce procedures for dealing with the application.

In 2002, despite a lull in drilling activity, EnCana invested money in building its gas production to position itself as not only a producer, but also a storage leader. EnCana Gas Storage is the largest independent gas storage operator in North America with about 124 Bcf of owned and operated capacity and an additional 20 Bcf of capacity leased from other operators. EnCana also offers gas storage space and storage services to other companies.

Another subsidiary, EnCana Natural Gas Liquids, owns an interest in four of the six natural gas liquids extraction plants straddling the NOVA pipelines near the Alberta/Saskatchewan border. EnCana operates one of these facilities, which have a combined processing capacity of approximately 2 Bcf/d.

In the Greater Sierra play, where the proposed pipeline would be located, EnCana holds more than two million net acres. It already has identified more than 500 potential drilling locations and expects to double gas production from the area through 2005 (see Daily GPI, Sept. 11, 2002).

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