National Fuel Gas Co. subsidiary National Fuel Gas Supply Corp. (NFGSC) said last week it is conducting an open season for transportation capacity to the Leidy (PA) Hub and/or proposed interconnects with Millennium and Empire Pipelines.

This offering makes available pipeline capacity from various available and proposed receipt points, including but not limited to a proposed Rockies Express interconnect at Clarington, OH, as well as local production sources in the Appalachian region. NFGSC said expansions up to 500 MMcf/d or more will be considered, and the company proposes new facilities and/or the expansion of existing facilities to accommodate desired transportation paths.

Late last year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved National Fuel’s Empire Connector Project, which seeks to expand the 157-mile long Empire State Pipeline by about 78 miles (see NGI, Dec. 25, 2006). Extending from near Rochester to near Corning, the Empire Connector will link the existing Empire State Pipeline that runs from near Buffalo to Syracuse, NY to the proposed Millennium pipeline project, the first phase of which will be built from Corning to Suffern, NY.

Williamsville, NY-based National Fuel said the Empire Connector Project and Millennium Pipeline are part of a significant expansion project designed to bring much-needed energy supplies to the Northeast. Once completed, these projects, along with the Algonquin Gas Transmission LLC and Iroquois Gas Transmission System LP expansion projects, will provide 525,400 Dth/d of new natural gas supply to growing markets in the Northeast. The Empire Connector Project is expected to cost $144 million and has an in-service date of fall 2008.

More information on the open season is available at www.nationalfuelgas.com, or by calling National Fuel’s Interstate Marketing Department at (716) 857-7740. NFGSC said the open season will close on April 30.

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