January 19, 2000
construction activity kicked off this week for Vector Pipeline.
Work began on the horizontal directional drilling under Deep River
in Lake County, Indiana along with preparations to complete
construction of a segment though the adjacent golf course. By the
first part of February, directional drill activity will begin at
the St. Clair River where Vector crosses into Canada towards its
final destination at Dawn, Ontario.
"This is a major milestone for Vector," said Vector Vice President
Juri Otsason. "We're pleased to see the first construction
activity begin following the challenging extensive marketing,
planning and regulatory effort that has taken place over the last
two years. We look forward to a successful construction season
and start of operations in October 2000."
Construction contracts for completion of the Deep River and St.
Clair River directional drills, in addition to the golf course
pre-build near Deep River were awarded to Murphy Bros. Inc. of
East Moline, Illinois. Requests for bids for remaining mainline
construction will be issued on January 17, 2000 with a decision on
the successful contractors expected in April 2000. Construction
on the mainline pipe is targeted to begin in early May 2000.
On November 23, 1999 the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
denied requests for further rehearings and also granted Vector's
request to amend Vector's Certificate to allow relocation of the
Michigan compressor station from Milford Township to nearby
Highland Township, Michigan. These decisions allowed Vector to
commence construction on a timely basis.
The Vector Pipeline is a joint venture of Calgary-based Enbridge
Inc., lead sponsor for the project, Detroit-based MCN Energy Group
Inc. and Westcoast Energy Inc. of Vancouver, British Columbia. It
is designed to transport 1 billion cubic feet per day of Western
Canadian and U.S. sourced natural gas from the rapidly expanding
Chicago hub. At Chicago, it will interconnect with Northern
Border Pipeline's extension and the Alliance Pipeline, to growing
markets in Eastern Canada and the Midwestern and Northeastern
regions of the United States. Pipeline capacity can be
cost-effectively expanded to 1.5 billion cubic feet per day.
Information about Vector is available on the World Wide Web at
Enbridge Inc. (TSE, ENB; NASDAQ: ENBRF) is a leader in energy
transportation, distribution and services. As a transporter of
energy, Enbridge operates, in Canada and the U.S., the world's
longest crude oil and liquids pipeline system. The company also
is involved in liquids marketing and international energy
projects, and has a growing involvement in the natural gas
midstream and transmission businesses. As a distributor of
energy, Enbridge owns and operates Canada's largest natural gas
distribution company, which provides gas and retail services in
Ontario, Quebec and New York State; and is involved in the
generation and distribution of electricity. In addition, Enbridge
provides retail energy products and services to a growing number
of Canadian and U.S. markets. Information about Enbridge is
available on the World Wide Web at www.enbridge.com.
MCN Energy Group Inc. (NYSE: MCN) is an integrated energy company
with more than $4 billion of assets and approximately $2 billion
of annual revenues. The company primarily is involved in natural
gas production, gathering, processing, transmission, storage and
distribution, electric power generation and energy marketing. Its
largest subsidiary is Michigan Consolidated Gas Company, a natural
gas utility serving 1.2 million customers in more than 500
communities throughout Michigan. Information about MCN Energy
Group is available on the World Wide Web at www.mcnenergy.com.
Westcoast Energy Inc. (TSE: W; NYSE: WE) headquartered in
Vancouver, British Columbia, is a leading North American energy
company with assets of approximately $11 billion. The Company's
interests include natural gas gathering, processing, transmission,
storage and distribution, as well as power generation,
international energy businesses, and financial, information
technology and energy services businesses. More information is
available on the Company's web site at www.westcoastenergy.com.
SYSTEM DESCRIPTIONEstimated Cost of Facilities ($US) United States Segment: $478 million Canadian Segment: $ 26 million Total new construction: $504 millionLength of Pipeline(x) United States ------------- 270 miles (434 kilometres) of new pipeline through Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. 59 miles (94 kilometres) of leased pipeline between Milford and Belle River Milles, Michigan. 329 miles (529 kilometres) total U.S. section Canada ------ 24 kilometres (15 miles) from Canadian/U.S. border to Dawn, Ontario Canada/U.S. Combined -------------------- 344 miles (553 kilometres)New Pipeline Diameter 42-inch (1067 mm)Capacity Approximately 1 Bcf/d (1 MMDth/d) of initial firm capacity; maximum operating pressure 1000 psig (6895 kPag)Compression Two 30,000 HP gas compressor stations in the United States (Indiana and Michigan)Full In-Service October 1, 2000 (x)all lengths are rounded