Attached files
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| 8-K - FORM 8-K - SOUTHERN Co GAS | form_8-k.htm |
Exhibit 99.1
News
Release
AGL
Resources’ Jefferson Island Storage & Hub receives unanimous approval
of
operating agreement from Louisiana Mineral and Energy Board
Agreement
enables JISH to pursue necessary approvals to expand storage
facility
ERATH,
La. – December 9, 2009 - AGL Resources (NYSE: AGL) subsidiary Jefferson Island
Storage & Hub, LLC (JISH) announced today that the Louisiana Mineral and
Energy Board approved by a 8-0 vote an operating agreement between JISH and the
state of Louisiana.
The new
agreement enables JISH to resume its efforts to gain the environmental, safety
and other regulatory approvals needed to proceed with its plan to create two new
natural gas storage caverns. JISH currently operates two natural gas storage
caverns in the Jefferson Island salt dome approximately 3,000 feet below the
surface of Lake Peigneur in Iberia Parish.
The new
operating agreement incorporates several benefits specifically for local
residents, including:
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·
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Language
restricting the use of future caverns to store only natural
gas
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·
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Commitment
to limit average daily withdrawal of water from the Upper Chicot aquifer
to 3 million gallons per day during cavern
creation
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·
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Construction
of a barricade surrounding the well heads to protect watercraft
on Lake Peigneur, as well as a wind direction
indicator
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“The
Mineral and Energy Board’s approval of the operating agreement benefits everyone
involved,” said Dana Grams, president of Jefferson Island Storage &
Hub, LLC.
“The
operating agreement allows us the opportunity to engage in the regulatory
process and seek to expand our facility, which will enable JISH to better serve
our customers and the public,” Grams said.
“The
agreement also benefits the local community because it facilitates a proposed
infrastructure development project that is expected to produce more than $90
million in economic impact – including the creation of more than 350 direct and
indirect construction jobs and additional full-time jobs at the facility,” Grams
said.
“We also
worked with the state of Louisiana to ensure that the operating agreement
includes several benefits specifically for local residents – namely, to restrict
the use of future caverns to the storage of natural gas, to limit water
draw-downs from the Upper Chicot aquifer and to erect a safety barrier and wind
direction indicator at the well heads,” Grams said.
“Finally,
the new operating agreement benefits the state in a number of ways. In addition
to the potential economic benefits, an expanded storage facility at JISH would
strengthen Louisiana’s position as the centerpiece of an increasingly important
natural gas industry,” Grams said.
Approval
of the operating agreement resolves a pending lawsuit between the parties over a
disputed mineral lease. At issue was JISH’s right to proceed with its plans to
create new natural gas storage caverns below its existing surface
lease.
JISH
currently consists of two salt dome storage caverns with 7.5 billion cubic feet
(Bcf) of working gas capacities, 0.7 Bcf / day withdrawal capacities and 0.4 Bcf
/day injection capacities. JISH provides storage and hub services through direct
connection to the Henry Hub via the Sabine Pipeline and eight other pipelines:
Texas Gas Transmission, Columbia Gulf Transmission, Sea Robin Pipeline,
Tennessee Gas Pipeline, Trunkline Gas Company, Gulf South Pipeline, NGPL and
CrossTex Energy Pipeline.
The
addition of two new storage caverns would expand the total working gas capacity
of JISH to approximately 19.5 Bcf.
Salt dome
storage is considered the safest and most environmentally secure means of
storing natural gas by the U.S. Department of Energy, and there are more than 60
similar facilities along the Gulf Coast. The two existing JISH caverns have
operated safely since their initial commercial operation in 1994.
About AGL
Resources
AGL
Resources (NYSE: AGL), an Atlanta-based energy services company, serves
approximately 2.3 million customers in six states. The company also owns
Houston-based Sequent Energy Management, an asset manager serving natural gas
wholesale customers throughout North America. As a current 70-percent owner in
the SouthStar partnership, AGL Resources markets natural gas to consumers in
Georgia under the Georgia Natural Gas brand. The company also owns and operates
Jefferson Island Storage & Hub, a high-deliverability natural gas storage
facility near the Henry Hub in Louisiana. For more information, visit www.aglresources.com.
Forward-Looking
Statements
Certain
expectations regarding the future expansion of the JISH existing storage
facility referenced in this press release are forward-looking statements. Our
expectations are not guarantees and are based on currently available
information. While we believe our expectations are reasonable in view of
currently available information, our expectations are subject to future events,
risks and uncertainties, and there are several factors -- many beyond our
control -- that could cause results to differ significantly from our
expectations. Such events, risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited
to, the approval process of the state of Louisiana's Department of Natural
Resources and other regulatory bodies; political developments in Louisiana; the
estimated economic benefits to Louisiana of the Jefferson Island project; the
impact of changes in state and/or federal legislation and regulation; financial
market conditions and general economic conditions; uncertainties about
environmental issues and the related impact of such issues; and other factors
that are provided in detail in our filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, which we incorporate by reference in this press release.
Forward-looking statements are only as of the date they are made, and we do not
undertake to update these statements to reflect subsequent changes.
###
Contact: Alan
Chapple
24-Hour
Media Line: 1-866-757-6646
Office:
404-584-4095
Cell:
404-783-3011
achapple@aglresources.com