Tidelands Oil & Gas Corp. said Wednesday that subsidiary Reef International LLC had received operating and construction permits from the Texas Railroad Commission to begin construction of the Eagle Pass/Piedras Negras International Pipeline crossing from Texas into Mexico. Federal permits still have to be granted, but they are expected “in the very near future,” said Tidelands in a statement.

The Eagle Pass/Piedras Negras International Pipeline crossing will be the first of its kind, transporting natural gas, propane and butane at the same crossing through a three-line network. Tidelands acknowledged that the pipe’s approval thus far was coming at an opportune time because following the events of Sept. 11, the “subsequent heightened security at the U.S./Mexico border has dramatically affected an already slow means of transporting propane and butane by truck. The current mode of transporting propane and butane across the border is time consuming, expensive and has in fact become obsolete.”

Tidelands, based in Corpus Christi, TX, is now finalizing several agreements to transport the fuels. The international bilateral pipe is expected to be completed and operational in the first quarter of 2002. Tidelands said the pipeline would “generate substantial revenues…which will be reflected in the operating results in the second quarter of 2002.”

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