HOUSTON, Oct. 3 -- Gulfstream Natural Gas System LLC now has all major segments of its $1.6 billion, 753-mile pipeline project under construction and on schedule to begin delivering natural gas to Florida utilities and power-generation facilities next June, officials said.
When completed, the Gulfstream system will be the largest pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico, extending from Mississippi and Alabama to Florida with the capacity to transport approximately 1.1 bcfd of natural gas. It is a joint interstate natural gas pipeline development by Williams Cos. Inc. and Duke Energy Corp.
Company officials credit timely reviews and approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other federal and state agencies for keeping that project on track. "This is a good example of government and private enterprise working together to ensure the necessary energy infrastructure is in place," said Guy Buckley, Gulfstream's senior vice-president of business functions.
As of Monday, workers had laid more than 200 of the planned 431 miles of offshore pipeline in the gulf. That segment is scheduled for completion later this fall.
Gulfstream also began deploying the first of 250 specially designed reef habitat modules in the vicinity of its pipeline in federal and state waters. It also initiated mitigation and restoration activities at several onshore locations.
Company officials said workers laid about 5 miles of pipe in parts of Polk and Manatee Counties, Fla., completing construction through several environmentally sensitive construction areas and three of the 10 horizontal drilling projects scheduled this year.
Compressor station construction also is on schedule in Alabama, officials said.
