Report Volume XXI, Number 5, November 1st, 2009

INDUSTRY NEWS (Corning, N.Y.) – Empire Pipeline Inc. is currently in the early stages of the project, which would stretch approximately 16 miles from the northwest corner of Tioga County, Pa., north through Caton to the town of Corning.

The pipeline would bring gas produced from the Marcellus Shale and Trenton-Black River formations up to a compressor station on Quackenbush Hill in Corning, and would “transport abundant supplies of domestic, clean-burning natural gas to consumers in this region and beyond,” according to a release from Empire Pipeline.

From the Corning compressor station, the proposed pipeline would connect with the Millenium Pipeline, a major artery across the Southern Tier which ships gas as far away as the New York City and Boston areas.

Empire Pipeline currently has a pipeline, roughly in the shape of a “T,” that stretches from 157 miles from Buffalo to Syracuse, and 76 miles from Rochester to Corning. The proposed segment would extend the Rochester-Corning pipeline south into Pennsylvania to service new drilling areas, said Donna DeCarolis, Empire Pipeline spokeswoman.

The company is doing environmental and engineering studies, DeCarolis said, and preparing to apply for approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
“We’re still in the preliminary stages,” DeCarolis said.
An informational meeting was held in Corning earlier this week to brief property owners along the proposed route, who would receive compensation for allowing the pipeline to be dug on their land.

“We had contacted all the landowners by letter, and we had a good turnout at the meeting,” DeCarolis said. “There was a lot of very good dialogue with everybody, and we got a lot of good questions.”

According to the release from Empire Pipeline, public meetings on the project will be held this winter, and the company could begin negotiating right-of-way agreements with landowners next summer.

DeCarolis said compensation would vary depending on factors such as acreage owned.
The company hopes to begin construction in spring 2011 and begin operating the pipeline in the fall of 2011. Landscape restoration efforts would begin shortly after construction.

The project is expected to create 70 construction jobs, and will generate revenues for local businesses who supply and service the project, according to Empire Pipeline.

INDUSTRY NEWS (Perrysburg, OH) Welded Construction– Grady McBurnett has announced that he has retired effective October 31, 2009.  Grady has been responsible for business development since joining Welded in 2004.

His pipeline experience began with Houston Contracting Company in 196 where he worked as a Laborer, Welder and Operator for many different pipeline contractors.  He joined CRC Pipeline Equipment International in 1972 as an outside salesman, calling on both contractors and operating companies throughout the Midwest.  During his 32-year tenure with CRC, he was responsible for the introduction of many innovations to the U.S. pipeline right-of-way, some of which include, Automatic (Mechanized) Welding, Line-Travel Shot Blast Cleaning and the Self-Loading Ditch Padder.
Speaking for all of Welded, Don Thorn said “We wish him all the happiness life can bring as well as continued good health allowing him to enjoy his retirement years”.

“Please join us in congratulating Grady McBurnett on his retirement”.

INDUSTRY NEWS (Saint Louis, MO) – Insituform Technologies, Inc. announced recently that the Mexican national oil and gas company Petróleos Mexicanos (“Pemex”) has awarded an additional $13.9 million contract to United Pipeline de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. (“UPM”), Insituform’s Mexican joint venture. This contract complements Insituform’s award of a $12.4 million pipeline project for Pemex which was announced in September 2009.

As with the initial contract announced in September, it is expected that Insituform will utilize its subsidiaries to provide additional services required for this project. Corrpro Companies, Inc. will provide installation of a cathodic protection system and The Bayou Companies. Inc. will provide prefabrication services for skid-mounted equipment. Dorwin Hawn, Vice President – United Pipeline Systems for Insituform, said, “By contracting this work simultaneously with the associated pipeline construction and rehabilitation activities, this additional project allows Pemex to benefit from improved economies of scale.”

The 2009 acquisitions of Corrpro and Bayou have led to a broader product and service offering and augment Insituform’s United Pipeline Systems’ division. “Pemex has quickly realized the value of Insituform’s family of companies in our Energy and Mining division and we’re pleased to see this coordinated effort benefits our customer,” remarked J. Joseph Burgess, Insituform’s President and CEO. Project Management will be handled by UPM from its offices in Poza Rica, Veracruz.

Work on this project, which is expected to begin in November and take approximately 24 months to complete, will be performed simultaneously with the associated pipeline infrastructure work awarded in September. This project includes building and connecting pipelines and associated infrastructure to tie in the well production and process oil produced in various districts of Mexico’s Chicontepec oil region.