Northeast

Nova Scotia Power Inc. completed the purchase of a 12.5%interest in the Maritimes &amp Northeast Pipeline (M&ampNP)project. This purchase represents a total investment of about $200million.

Coastal’s Colorado Interstate Gas (CIG), and Southwest Gassubsidiary Paiute Pipeline are holding an open season for capacityon a new pipeline to be built from northeast Utah to northernNevada. Jointly sponsored by CIG and Paiute, the Ruby Pipeline willextend more than 400 miles from CIG’s western terminus in UintahCounty, UT, to an interconnection with Paiute Pipeline near Elko,NV. The pipeline also will interconnect with the Kern RiverPipeline near its Dog Valley meter station south of Salt Lake Cityand will pass through the developing coalbed methane fields nearPrice, UT.

As Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline heads into construction,it is starting to look more like a domestic Canadian supply systemand lose its original flavor as almost exclusively an exportproject. The evolution of MNP as the delivery route for the SableOffshore Energy Project has set off speculation in Canada that itwill change significantly by its scheduled in-service date of Nov.1, 1999.

Unless an extra contractor is hired, the joint Maritimes &Northeast (M&NE) and Portland Natural Gas Transmission (PNGTS)pipeline will not be able to start service to Maine this winter asplanned.

Cash prices softened a bit Tuesday in mostly featureless tradingas major markets in the Midwest and Northeast cooled off. Themajority of points saw prices ranging from flat to down about anickel with no single region standing out as especially strong orweak. About the only exception to that general rule wasintra-Alberta, which started off around Monday’s C$2.04-05 averagebut quickly ramped up to near the top end of Monday’s range andwound up gaining about a nickel overall, a marketer reported. Forwhatever reason provincial field receipts have been lower thanexpected this week, she said, although only a few plants are stillundergoing annual turnaround maintenance.

Portland Natural Gas Transmission System (PNGTS) and Maritimes& Northeast Pipeline, L.L.C. (Maritimes) successfully crossedthe first major engineering hurdle in constructing their jointpipeline facilities, which represent the southernmost portion ofeach company’s pipeline system. The joint facilities eventuallywill bring more than 600 MMcf/d of Canadian gas to New Englandmarkets.

Duke Energy, Iroquois Pipeline and Williams Cos. have teamed upto build a $240 million gas pipeline, called the LighthousePipeline, to extend under Long Island Sound to southernConnecticut. The pipeline would transport U.S. and Canadian naturalgas from Williams’ Transco pipeline, Duke’s Algonquin and TexasEastern pipelines and the Iroquois pipeline to new generationprojects in Southern Connecticut. It’s also expected to facilitatedevelopment of other power generation projects on Long Island.

There’s no point in opening the valves on a new pipeline if noone is there to take the gas, Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline toldFERC this week. The pipeline said its only shipper, affiliate DukeEnergy, has backed out of Phase I of its project, deferring itsrequest for 60 MMcf/d of firm transportation until Nov. 1, 1999. Asa result, Maritimes has requested it be allowed to extend itsin-service date by a year and defer cost-recovery while movingforward on construction of most of the system.