Florida's desire for natural gas driven by electricity.

Several natural gas pipeline projects are in the planning and construction phases to supply Florida with the natural gas it needs mainly to supply gas-fired electrical power generation projects. Florida has been subject to a few cancellations in the power industry, but the majority of the gas-fired power projects being tracked by Industrial Information Resources are proceeding as planned. Between February of 2002 and December of 2005, 19,657 megawatts of gas-fired generation are planned to come on line, of which 11,145 megawatts are base load and 8,512 megawatts are for peaking purposes. This will consume a large amount of natural gas and many companies are very interested in supplying the capacity.

As of now, the only new pipeline under construction to Florida is Gulfstream, which is a 1.2 billion cubic feet per day sub-sea pipeline slated for completion in the summer of 2002. Florida Gas Transmission Company (Tampa) is in the process of constructing its Phase V expansion project, which will add 428 million cubic feet per day and is planning a Phase VI expansion project, which will add an additional 121 million cubic feet per day of capacity, mainly for consumption in Florida.

Additional phases on this line are expected. Two companies are planning new mainline transmission pipelines into the state. The first is a 24" diameter line coming down from Georgia with a capacity of 350 million cubic feet per day and the second is an offshore line still in a project scope phase to supply between 400 and 700 million cubic feet per day of natural gas. The line will begin at a planned 750 million cubic feet per day LNG terminal in the Bahamas and terminate near Port Everglades some time in mid 2005. Several smaller projects are in early planning stages as well and will contribute to fuel Florida's growing appetite for natural gas. For more information, visit http://www.industrialinfo.com or http://www.iirenergy.com or call 713/783-5147.