TransCanada del Bajio was awarded a permit to build and operatea system to transport gas from Calamanca, Guanajuato, Mexico, tothe capital city of Aquascalientes. Mexico’s Energy RegulatoryCommission (CRE) awarded the permit to the consortium made up of TransCanada Pipelines Ltd. (95%) and Mexico’s Corporacion GUTSA(5%). The project entails construction of a 126-mile network of 12-and 16-inch pipelines with capacity of 90 MMcf/d. TransCanada delBajio will invest $56.4 million during the first five years of thesystem’s operation. The project is intended to supply gas to theBajio geographic zone whose distribution permit has been put up forbidding by the CRE. The winner of this permit will be announced byDec. 17.

TransCanada and GUTSA were the winners of the bid for thelargest gas transportation system in Mexico, a 440-mile pipelinerunning from Ciudad Pemex, Tabasco, to the Yucatan Peninsula andcosting $276 million.

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