Cardinal Pipeline Co. LLC said it has executed precedent agreements to increase its firm capacity by 199,000 Dth/d. The pipeline will transport additional gas to serve markets served by Piedmont Natural Gas Co. Inc. and Public Service Co. of North Carolina (PSNC) from an interconnect with Williams Partners LP‘s Transco pipeline. The $39 million Cardinal System Expansion project is scheduled to enter service in July 2012 and has been designed to serve growth on Piedmont’s and PSNC Energy’s distribution systems, including an expansion on Piedmont’s system to serve Progress Energy Carolinas‘ planned gas-fired power generation facility in Wayne County, NC. Cardinal Pipeline is a 105-mile, 24-inch diameter pipeline from Rockingham County, NC, to a point southeast of Raleigh, NC, with a design capacity of approximately 279,000 Dth/d. The pipeline is a North Carolina limited liability company whose members are wholly owned subsidiaries of Williams Partners, PSNC Energy and Piedmont.

Junior producer Lucas Energy Inc., based in Houston, said it has entered into a letter of intent to form a joint venture (JV) with an unnamed privately owned producer to develop some properties in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas. The JV partner would acquire an 85% working interest under the agreement and would provide Lucas with an estimated $1/share in cash, the producer said. The letter of intent is nonbinding and subject to completion of the purchase and sale agreement, which is expected by the end of March, Lucas said. According to Lucas, the JV does not include any producing wells or current production sale at closing.

Wyoming Interstate Co. Ltd. (WIC) had its name changed to Wyoming Interstate Co. LLC after the Rockies pipeline was converted to a Delaware limited liability company Friday. The change does not affect customer contracts or other transactions with WIC such as contracts or billing remittance information, access to the CIG Xpress nominations system, etc. Anyone wanting a copy of the certificate issued by the Delaware secretary of state should contact Edgar Trillo at edgar.trillo@elpaso.com.

©Copyright 2010Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.