Construction

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., announced Friday that the construction and commissioning of the Ladyfern Sales natural gas pipeline from the Ladyfern field to TransCanada PipeLines in Alberta has been completed. The 20-inch, 7.5-mile Ladyfern Sales line with a capacity of 600 MMcf/d went onstream Friday.

Quanta Services Inc. announced that its subsidiary, Haines Construction, has been contracted by Enbridge Midcoast Energy to build over 50 miles of natural gas pipeline in northwestern Alabama. Enbridge Midcoast Energy is a subsidiary of Alberta-based Enbridge Inc.

The Broward County Commission today will consider a proposal that, if approved, would impose an 11-month moratorium on the construction of new power plants in the county, but an Enron Corp. spokesperson yesterday said that Florida’s environmental protection agency may step in and tell the county that such a move is illegal.

With the tight gas supply and demand situation today, some power plants may find themselves stranded unless they’ve already locked up gas supplies — and some of the projected gas-fired generation projects could be delayed, Offshore Technology Conference attendees heard last week. Gas inventories and demand will be tight for two or three years, putting more pressure on the infrastructure to expand.

With the tight gas supply and demand situation today, some power plants may find themselves stranded unless they’ve already locked up gas supplies — and some of the projected gas-fired generation projects could be delayed, Offshore Technology Conference attendees heard this week. Gas inventories and demand will be tight for two or three years, putting more pressure on the infrastructure to expand.

Backers of the Elk Hills Power Plant in the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley’s oil patch held groundbreaking ceremonies Monday –on a 570-MW gas-fired plant in the midst of plentiful local gas supplies. The plant’s sponsors are Occidental Petroleum (Oxy), which owns the nearby Elk Hills oil/gas production fields once a part of the U.S. Navy’s Strategic Reserves, and Sempra Energy. The new plant will get all of its fuel supplies — up to 94 MMcf/d — from nearby Elk Hills, delivered through an Oxy pipeline, eliminating the normal utility transportation charges.

Pipeline construction to tap North Slope natural gas in Alaska continues to inch along toward fruition as the major North Slope gas producers (BP, Phillips, and ExxonMobil) announced that the last four in a series of 10 contracts have been awarded to assess the feasibility of constructing a system to deliver gas from the North Slope to Canada and the Lower 48 states.

The much ballyhooed electricity plant construction race inFlorida finally got underway on Monday as the Florida PublicService Commission (PSC) unanimously approved the first independentpower combined cycle facility under the Florida Power Plant SitingAct. The approved application for a 529 MW facility was submittedby Calpine Corp. and Seminole Electric Cooperative.

Tengasco reported today that it has completed construction on afive-mile natural gas pipeline utility system and expects to beginimmediate deliveries of retail natural gas to residential,commercial and industrial consumers in Hancock County, TN. Thecompany said that this will be the first time the county will havegas distribution facilities. Tengasco said natural gas it producesfrom the Swan Creek field is available to about 7,000 customers ata retail price of $8.90 per Mcf. The utility said it would extendits service area in the future to cover as many of the county’spopulation as economically feasible. CEO M. E. Ratliff said heexpects deliveries to approach 2 MMcf/d by year-end. The companyalso announced that it has almost completed phase two of its60-mile gas pipeline system to serve Eastman Chemical Co. under along-term agreement, and other customers such as British Aerospaceat Holston Ordinance. The line will also provide gas for customersin Kingsport, TN. The company said it expects to begin service inFebruary.