Report Volume XXI, Number 16, April 15th, 2010

INDUSTRY NEWS (Houston, TX) – The $3 billion Ruby Pipeline project to carry natural gas from Wyoming to the West Coast, a project that garnered the support of Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, has received federal approval.

El Paso Corp. said recently that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved the project.

The Ruby Pipeline will run 675 miles between a hub at Opal, Wyo., and a connection point near the Oregon-California border.

Ritter asked FERC in February 2009 to approve the project.

“We are at a place where added infrastructure is needed for when the economy comes back,” Ritter said then. “When the economy comes back, and it will come back, more infrastructure will be needed to get our gas to market.”

The pipeline, 42 inches in diameter, will have the capacity to ship up to 1.5 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas. El Paso said it’s still waiting for right-of-way approval from the federal Bureau of Land Management, but expects construction to start within a few months with completion expected in March 2011.

INDUSTRY NEWS (Houston, TX) – UniversalPegasus International has promoted Craig Pierrotti in the corporate role of Vice President of Business Development.

Pierrotti has fifteen years of experience in the energy industry and has been the Director of Business Development for UniversalPegasus’ Offshore division. Now, Pierrotti will facilitate overall Domestic and International business development at the corporate level.

“We are very pleased to have Craig join our team. His skills and achievements will be an asset to our company,” stated Jerry Mayfield, President and CEO of UniversalPegasus International.

Perriotti’s goal is to build a larger and stronger business development team to assist with the expansion initiatives. “We hope this will better assist our clients as well as provide support to our projects in the future”, says Perriotti.

INDUSTRY NEWS (Baton Rouge, LA) – Jared Riddle, son of Mr.& Mrs. David Riddle, is the winner of Stupp Bros. Bridge & Iron Co. Foundation merit-based scholarship, a potential 4 year award of up to $10,000 per year.

Jared currently attends Central Private School where he is enrolled in all Honors classes and has a 3.93 GPA. He plans to study Biology or Wildlife Management at an in-state school – maybe LSU.

Jared is the third award recipient whose parent is employed in the Stupp Fabrication Shop in Baton Rouge. “We are very proud of Jared and his accomplishments and wish him a bright future. It is a source of pride to all Stupp employees that one of our own has received this generous award” concluded Ed Scram, COO and President of Stupp Corporation.

Stupp Corporation, established in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1952, is a leading North American manufacturer of custom line pipe for the transport of oil and natural gas. With the most modern ERW pipe making facility in North America, Stupp Corporation is well located to provide pipe for both onshore and offshore transmission pipeline projects, and to export pipe from the Port of Baton Rouge.

Stupp Bros., Inc., founded in St. Louis, Missouri in 1856, is the privately held parent company for Stupp Corporation. The nonprofit Stupp Foundation was established in 1952.

INDUSTRY NEWS (Houston, TX) – PipeLine Machinery International (PLM) President Mel Ternan, on behalf of the Board of PLM is pleased to announce that Scot Jenkins has taken on the new position of Vice President Asia Pacific Region. He joins the executive team at PLM and will hold full responsibility for growing PLM’s investment and impact in the China and Asia Pacific pipeline markets.

Scot joined PLM in 2009 and has been working on developing PLM’s presence in China and the Asia Pacific region. While leading the sales and product support team on the ground in the area, he has been instrumental in establishing a corporate presence in Beijing as well as setting up region headquarters in Singapore.

Scot holds Mechanical Engineering and MBA degrees and has extensive experience with establishing support and sales offices in the Asia Pacific region, including China. Prior to joining PLM, he held senior positions in the compression industry providing marketing and business development in Asia and China along with sales and manufacturing-side experience in Europe.

“Scot has built some solid relationships throughout the China and Asian business community and is well-respected for his knowledge and sensitivity to the needs and styles of the international business community,” Ternan said. “With the growth of our business in the region, Scot’s expertise in the establishment of local processes and agreements suited to that business environment has been a tremendous advantage. In the past year he has shown an excellent grasp of the customer base and the inherent business challenges of the region.”

The expansion of PLM’s Asia- Pacific team is designed to address the long-term growth in the China pipeline construction industry as well as growing pipeline and LNG opportunities throughout India and Southeast Asia. “With the current success of our equipment provisioning contract on the Papua New Guinea LNG plant construction and pipeline project, we see many opportunities ahead for Caterpillar purpose- built and traditional equipment to serve the industry,” remarked Ternan. “Scot will lead the PLM team in Asia-Pacific and participate at the executive level in overall leadership of the company.”