PrintNews Release
November 2, 2007
Steckman Ridge, LP Seeks FERC Approval for Natural Gas Storage To Serve Growing Demand in the Northeastern Markets
HOUSTON – Steckman Ridge, LP today submitted an application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct and operate approximately 12 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage capacity that will help meet the demonstrated demand for storage services in the Northeast United States.
In an open season held earlier this year, Steckman Ridge received bids for storage services totaling almost five times the proposed working capacity of the project, located in Bedford County, Pa. The new multi-cycle facility will offer Northeast markets in the Mid-Atlantic and New England states strategic access to natural gas supplies from the East Coast and Rocky Mountains while providing direct connections to the interstate natural gas transmission system.
“We are seeking FERC approval for this vital project because we recognize the need for natural gas storage and understand its importance in balancing supply and demand in the Northeast,” said Mark Fiedorek, vice president, Steckman Ridge, LP. “Steckman Ridge’s strategic location, interconnections and range of services respond to the market’s call for flexible storage options that bring more natural gas reliability and security to the region.”
Steckman Ridge plans to convert a natural gas field into a storage facility. This conversion will include a number of new natural gas storage wells, a compressor station and a storage field pipeline network. The project is expected to be in service by April 2009.
Steckman Ridge is a joint venture, equally owned by subsidiaries of Spectra Energy Corp and New Jersey Resources.
Spectra Energy Corp (NYSE: SE) is one of North America’s premier pure play natural gas midstream companies serving three key links in the natural gas value chain: gathering and processing, transmission and storage and distribution. For close to a century, Spectra Energy and its predecessor companies have developed critically important pipelines and related energy infrastructure connecting natural gas supply sources to premium markets. Based in Houston, Texas, the company operates in the United States and Canada approximately 17,500 miles of transmission pipeline, 265 billion cubic feet of storage, natural gas gathering and processing, natural gas liquids operations and local distribution assets. Spectra Energy Corp also has a 50 percent ownership in DCP Midstream, one of the largest natural gas gatherers and processors in the United States. Visit www.spectraenergy.com for more information.
New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR), a Fortune 1000 company and a member of the Forbes Platinum 400, provides reliable retail and wholesale energy services to customers in New Jersey and in states from the Gulf Coast to New England, and Canada. Its principal subsidiary, New Jersey Natural Gas, is one of the fastest-growing local distribution companies in the United States, serving more than 476,000 customers in central and northern New Jersey. Other major NJR subsidiaries include NJR Energy Services and NJR Home Services. NJR Energy Services is a leader in the unregulated energy services market, providing customer service and management of natural gas storage and capacity assets. NJR Home Services offers retail customers heating, air conditioning and appliance services. NJR’s progress is a tribute to the more than 5,000 dedicated employees who have shared their expertise and focus on quality through more than 50 years of serving customers and the community to make NJR a leader in the competitive energy marketplace. For more information, visit NJR’s Web site at njliving.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements represent Spectra Energy’s and New Jersey Resources’ intentions, plans, expectations, assumptions and beliefs about future events. This release includes forward-looking statements concerning future capital developments, including the anticipated timing of planned capital expansions and anticipated storage capacity resulting from such expansions. Such statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the control of Spectra Energy and New Jersey Resources and could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements. Those factors include: the timing and success of efforts to develop infrastructure projects; the timing and receipt of required regulatory approvals; the timing and receipt of sufficient capacity commitments for the described project; fluctuations in the demand for natural gas in the markets serviced by the described project; and geological uncertainties and limitations in the described natural gas field.
These factors, as well as additional factors that could affect such forward-looking statements, are described in Spectra Energy’s and New Jersey Resources’ filings with the SEC, which are available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the events described in the forward-looking statements might not occur or might occur to a different extent or at a different time than we have described. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
John SheridanSpectra Energy
(617) 560-1444
(713) 627-4747 (24-hour media line)
Michael Kinney
New Jersey Resources
(732) 938-1031
John Arensdorf
Spectra Energy
(713) 627-4600
Dennis Puma
New Jersey Resources
(732) 938-1229