National Fuel plans new markets

Gary Park

Petroleum News Calgary correspondent

Undeterred by shrinking exports and a tight production outlook, National Fuel Gas Co. is ready to open up new outlets in the U.S. Northeast for Canada natural gas producers.

The Williamsville, N.Y.-based company plans to spend US$140 million building an 83-mile addition to its Empire State pipeline, with capacity for an additional 250 million cubic feet per day in late 2006.

National Fuel hopes to complete the marketing phase by mid-2004 before moving into the regulatory and environmental approval process. The 157-mile Empire line, which interconnects with TransCanada’s system, has capacity for 525 million cubic feet per day from Buffalo to Syracuse. The major shipper on the extension would be KeySpan Energy, which is the largest distributor in the Northeast with 2.5 million customers.