Ruby had earlier received a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and it will begin construction as soon as it receives a FERC Notice to proceed and construct. The project is slated to be in service in March 2011.
Jim Cleary, president of Western Pipeline Group at El Paso, said: “We are very pleased to receive conditional BLM approval for this important infrastructure project. We expect to satisfy the BLM conditions and receive our FERC notice to proceed very soon and begin construction shortly thereafter.”
Ruby is a 42-inch interstate natural gas transmission pipeline, which will access significant Rockies supplies and make them available to consuming markets in California, Nevada, and the Pacific Northwest. Ruby will transport natural gas from an existing supply hub at Opal, Wyoming, to interconnections near Malin, Oregon. It will have an initial design capacity of 1.5 billion cubic feet per day.
El Paso has entered into agreements with Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), whereby GIP will invest up to $700m in the Ruby project. Upon satisfaction of various closing conditions, GIP will acquire a 50% equity interest in the project.
