Sabal Trail Transmission LLC, a joint venture of Spectra Energy and NextEra Energy Inc., has been named the winning bidder to build a 465-mile interstate natural gas pipeline project by Florida Power & Light (FPL) to provide transportation services for its power generations needs beginning in May 2017. FPL, the largest power company in the state, put out the request for proposals for a new pipeline in December. Sabal Trail would have an estimated price tag of $3 billion and originate in Tallapoosa County, AL, extend through Georgia and terminate at the Central Florida Hub near Orlando (see NGI, July 8). Through a capacity lease with Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco), natural gas supply would be accessed at Transco’s Station 85 in Choctaw County, AL. The pipeline, when completed, would have the capacity to transport more than 1 Bcf/d to serve local distribution companies, industrial users and natural gas-fired power generators. According to the Energy Information Administration, Florida generates 62% of its power from 1.1 Tcf of natural gas.
Winning
Articles from Winning
North Slope Area Lease Sale Fourth Largest by Dollar Amount
Winning bids in Wednesday’s Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) oil and gas lease sales for the North Slope, North Slope Foothills and the Beaufort Sea totaled $14.2 million, $11.5 million of which came from the North Slope sale, DNR said, adding that the results indicate continued interest in the region’s hydrocarbon resources.
FERC Alumnus: Natgas Industry Should Act Like A Winner
Natural gas is winning the battle to become America’s fuel for now and the future thanks to energy industry ingenuity, speakers at a Houston pipeline conference said last week. However, one said the industry should now be confident in taking more of a leadership roll in shaping the country’s energy future.
FERC Alumnus: Natgas Industry Should Act Like the Winner It Is
Natural gas is winning the battle to become America’s fuel for now and the future thanks to energy industry ingenuity, speakers at a Houston pipeline conference said Wednesday. However, one said the industry should now be confident in taking more of a leadership roll in shaping the country’s energy future.
To Win Public’s Trust on Fracking, Panel Urges Best Practices
A cooperative and coordinated effort by state and federal agencies and the industry to develop and promulgate “best practices” is key to winning the public’s trust and to successful development of the nation’s shale gas resources, according to a highly anticipated report issued Thursday by a federal advisory panel.
DOE Fracking Panel Urges Cooperation on Best Practices
A cooperative and coordinated effort by state and federal agencies and the industry to develop and promulgate “best practices” is key to winning the public’s trust and to successful development of the nation’s shale gas resources, according to a report issued Thursday by a federal advisory panel.
DOE Fracking Panel Urges Cooperation on Best Practices
A cooperative and coordinated effort by state and federal agencies and the industry to develop and promulgate “best practices” is key to winning the public’s trust and to successful development of the nation’s shale gas resources, according to a report issued Thursday by a federal advisory panel.
Industry Briefs
Mountainview Energy Ltd. announced Wednesday that its founder, Joseph Montalban, has resigned from the company’s board of directors effective May 19. Montalban began his career in the oil and gas industry in the early 1950s, first as a roughneck in Alberta and then as a vice president for Flank Oil. He discovered oil in the Bakken Shale after drilling the Bugby #1 well in Glacier County, MT for Flank in 1957. He formed Montalban Drilling in the late 1950s and two public companies in the early 1970s, which would become MSR Exploration Ltd. in 1983. He also founded Gyspy Highview Gathering System Inc. In 2001 Montalban and his son, Patrick, formed Mountainview, which trades on the TSX Venture Exchange. Mountainview, based in Cut Bank, MT, is focused on exploration, production and development of the Bakken and Three Forks shales in the Williston Basin and the south Alberta Bakken shale play.
Industry Brief
In yet another side story to a toxic contamination and natural gas transmission pipeline saga that spans decades and inspired an Academy Award-winning motion picture, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) made local news just before the Thanksgiving holiday by offering to buy up to 100 properties in the town of Hinkley, CA, about 130 miles northeast of Los Angeles. That move comes in the wake of residents and the local board for state water regulators expressing new concerns about PG&E’s handling of ongoing toxic mitigation work corralling a 2.5-by-1-mile plume of groundwater tainted with hexavalent chromium, which was previously used by PG&E in its gas transmission pipeline operations in the Hinkley area (see Daily GPI, Nov. 16). A report in the Los Angeles Times quoted a utility spokesperson confirming that if residents in the plume zone want to sell, PG&E will be willing to buy the properties. Meanwhile, the regional water board is still investigating PG&E’s work in containing the plume and is considering options proposed by the utility. Tests have shown elevated — albeit not necessarily dangerous — levels of hexavalent chromium in domestic and agricultural water supplies. The utility and more than 600 residents reached a $333 million settlement in 1997.
California Moves on Hydrogen, Carbon Capture Project
Already winning state utility support and approval as a three-phase research effort, the 250 MW Hydrogen Energy California (HECA) project won an initial thumbs up from the California Energy Commission (CEC) staff in the first of a two-part preliminary assessment released the end of August. The project, which enjoys backing from some global energy giants, is slated for a site near the oil and gas fields of the southern end of California’s central valley near Bakersfield.
