Viking Gas Transmission, a partner in the Viking Voyageurpipeline expansion project, formally confirmed it has been unableto secure sufficient shipper support for the proposed expansion andis “reviewing its alternatives” on the project with its partners,TransCanada PipeLines and Nicor.

Viking Voyageur is a proposed 42-inch underground line whichwould carry 1.4 Bcf/d of gas along an 773-mile route stretchingfrom Emerson, MB, through Minnesota and Wisconsin to Joliet, IL.The pipeline was targeted for service Nov. 1, 1999.

Even though projections show that natural gas demand in theUpper Midwest will rise sharply in the years ahead, Viking does notbelieve the pipeline will receive adequate commitments fromprospective shippers to make the project viable, the company said.

Canadian supply concerns remain primarily because constructionof the competing Alliance Pipeline project, which also would bringmore than 1 Bcf/d of Canadian supply to Midwest markets, is morecertain following an agreement signed by Canadian gas industrystakeholders earlier this month.

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