Dominion, Statoil Break Ground For Cove Point
LNG Expansion
LUSBY, Md. – Dominion (NYSE: D) and Statoil ASA (NYSE:
STO) officially broke ground Thursday on an expansion project that will significantly
increase capacity and storage at the Dominion Cove Point liquefied natural
gas facility in southern Maryland.
"Today
we recognize the hard work that led to this ceremony as well as the very
bright future for our expansion, the millions of customers that will
benefit from this new source of natural gas and our partnership with
Statoil," said Dominion Transmission President Gary L. Sypolt.
"While
this day marks the official start of construction, we began turning dirt
in August immediately upon receiving approval. This expansion means
Cove Point will continue to provide clean, reliable, affordable energy
for Southern Maryland and the region."
Dominion and Statoil executives and local,
state and federal officials at the Cove
Point groundbreaking on Oct. 5, 2006. (Click on image to enlarge.)
"Dominion Cove Point is a critical cornerstone for our
expanding position in the U.S. natural gas market," said Rune Bjornson,
Statoil executive vice president. "This facility gives us access to one
of the largest and most active markets in the world for natural gas."
Dominion
and Statoil recently signed 20-year service agreements for the station expansion
and increased pipeline capacity in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The
service agreements begin when the expansion is activated. Work is scheduled
for completion in fall 2008.
Dominion Cove Point’s capacity will expand
from 1 billion cubic feet a day to 1.8 Bcf per day, and storage capacity will
increase from 7.8 Bcf to 14.6 Bcf. The project includes expanding the
Dominion Cove Point pipeline in Maryland and adding a pipeline and storage
capacity in Pennsylvania.
The expansion will bring temporary construction and
permanent operations jobs to Maryland and Pennsylvania. Economic studies
predicted $61.1 million in benefits for Maryland and $48.9 million for Pennsylvania. Currently
about 20 percent of the natural gas imported at Dominion Cove Point serves
the needs of Maryland customers.
Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers
of energy, with an energy portfolio of about 28,000 megawatts of generation,
about 6.3 trillion cubic feet equivalent of proved natural gas reserves and
7,800 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline. Dominion also operates
one of the nation's largest underground natural gas storage systems with more
than 950 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves retail energy customers
in 11 states. For
more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at www.dom.com.
Statoil
ASA has been a major player in the European gas market for more than 20 years.
The company has a market share of some 10 percent and more than 20 percent
market share in important gas consuming countries like Germany, France and
Belgium. Statoil is technical and operational responsible for the world’s
biggest subsea gas pipeline system from the Norwegian continental shelf to Europe
with a total length of some 6000 kilometres. For more information about Statoil
visit the company’s Web site at www.Statoil.com.
