By Tom Kelly
Editor and Publisher

A $125 million natural gas pipeline project is under construction in North Louisiana for Regency Gas Services LLC of Dallas. On-the-ground activity has recently become visible in the Piney Woods region with contract pipe haulers plying Highway 167 to stock a pipe concentration yard adjacent to a major road crossing site on Highway 167 north of Jonesboro in Jackson parish.

The project runs from Haughton in Bossier parish to Winnsboro in Franklin parish, and is projected for completion by late December or January, according to Chuck Yokiel, project engineer for construction contractor H.C. Price Co. of Dallas.

Yokiel said the line is being built in three sections, beginning with an already-completed 24-inch line from Haughton to Sibley, south of Minden in Webster parish; another 24-inch segment from Sibley to Bryceland in Bienville Parish, and the final leg, a 30-inch pipe from Bryceland to the connection to Columbia Gulf company's line near Winnsboro.

Construction employees number about 360 at the peak, Yokiel said. Contract haulers are delivering the 30-inch epoxy-coated pipe from Bayou Coatings in Baton Rouge, where it arrives by rail from the manufacturer in Canada. The 100-foot sections of pipe are stacked at the Jackson parish road crossing site, then reloaded for shipment to the pipeline right of way where the joints are welded together and lowered underground.

Yokiel said the epoxy coating is applied by heating the pipe joints up to 500 degrees F., then spraying with the epoxy powder which melts and fuses to the metal. On the pipeline site, after the joints are welded, the joined ends are again heated and sprayed with epoxy to make a permanent seal before the pipe is buried.

Construction cost of the line is estimated at $50 million, with other costs including acquisition of pipe, right of way, design, and other costs making up the estimated total $125 million.

Universal ENSCO Engineering of Houston is in charge of design and procurement.

Most workers on the line, including contract haulers, welders, and other crew persons, are from the North Louisiana area.

According to statements issued by Regency Gas Services, the Haughton to Sibley section was due for completion in June.

The Regency statements in June said the project will increase the capacity of its existing 200-mile intrastate pipeline by adding the 24-inch line along 40 miles of the existing line, as well as increasing the compression in the line by approximately 10,000 horsepower.

Gas feeding into the line will include production by Anadarko, from the still-developing Vernon field in Jackson Parish. Regency announced it is also contracting with other large gas producers in the state, "to facilitate transmission of natural gas from the rapidly-growing production basins in North Louisiana to intrastate markets and to markets in the Northeast, Southwest, and Upper Midwest."

December, 2004, Regency was acquired as a division of Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst for $405 million. Regency was formed in May 2003 from assets previously owned by El Paso Energy and Duke Energy. It currently operates as a mid-stream gas gathering, processing, and transmission company with operations in North Louisiana, West Texas, and the Mid-Continent region.

James W. Hunt and Michael Williams joined Regency at the acquisition by HMTF as president and CEO, and Chief Operating Officer, respectively.

Regency owns and operates five gas gathering systems, one major transmission system, and five cryogenic gas liquids processing plants. The company's pipeline systems connect approximately 2,800 wells with nearly 3,000 miles of pipeline with current throughput of approximately 450 million cubic feet per day.

In mid-2004, Regency acquired natural gas treating assets in Louisiana and Texas from Cardinal Gas Services for approximately $3.4 million. The facilities treat gas to remove contaminants and liquid hydrocarbons. Also, in March, 2004, Regency acquired gathering, processing, and treating assets in West Texas from Duke Energy Field Services in a transaction of about $62 million.

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