El Paso gets right-of-way grant for gas pipeline

HOUSTON

Natural gas company El Paso Corp. said Tuesday that it has received a right of way grant for its Ruby Pipeline project from the federal Bureau of Land Management.

The grant is subject to the company finishing agreements on federal lands along the pipeline's 680-mile route. The company says it will begin construction as soon as it gets the final nod from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The $3 billion pipeline is scheduled to be in use in March of next year.

"Ruby will play an important role in linking abundant supplies of cleaning-burning natural gas in the Rockies to markets in western states," Jim Cleary, president of El Paso's Western Pipeline Group, said in a statement.

The 42-inch pipeline will tap supplies in the Rocky Mountains and transport them to markets in California, Nevada and the Pacific Northwest, El Paso's statement said. It runs from a supply hub in Opal, Wyoming, to connections in Malin, Oregon.

El Paso has a deal with Global Infrastructure Partners to invest up to $700 million in the pipeline. GIP could get a 50 percent equity interest in the project. Initially the pipeline will have a capacity of 1.5 billion cubic feet per day, the company said.

Shares of El Paso closed Tuesday up 12 cents, or 1 percent, to $12.46.