Spectra Energy Holds Open Season for Renaissance Gas Transmission Project

HOUSTON, March 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Spectra Energy Corp (NYSE: SE) today announced a non-binding open season for its Renaissance Gas Transmission (Renaissance) project, a new pipeline system that will link growing natural gas supplies to high-demand power generation and distribution markets in Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. The company also announced it has executed a non-binding letter of intent with AGL Resources (NYSE: GAS) to explore a joint business arrangement and transportation service options for the local distribution companies owned by AGL Resources that operate near the proposed pipeline.

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Spectra Energy expects natural gas demand in this region to significantly grow as power generators look to increase their use of existing facilities and site new gas-fired generation. The Renaissance project will support multiple service offerings to these generators, as well as local distribution companies and industrial users, by bringing high-pressure capabilities to serve the swing and hourly delivery requirements that these markets require.

The Renaissance project will commence at an interconnect with Spectra Energy's Texas Eastern Transmission, LP (Texas Eastern). Texas Eastern is strategically positioned with existing connectivity through the Marcellus, Utica, Appalachian and other shale gas supply sources, creating a direct link from these basins to the Renaissance project. Texas Eastern offers additional supply options for Renaissance customers with its traditional access to Gulf of Mexico and Gulf Coast supply as well as its access to the Fayetteville, Haynesville, Woodford, Barnett and Eagle Ford shale plays. These direct links to multiple supply basins will serve to diversify customer's clean energy options and offer significant liquidity and supply reliability. The new pipeline runs 230 miles in length, and the projected capacity is approximately 1.25 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), with an estimated in-service in late 2015.

"Taking advantage of expanding domestic onshore resources and creating access to growing natural gas markets will enable us to offer greater flexibility to both new and existing customers," said Mark Fiedorek, group vice president, Spectra Energy Transmission, Southeast.

"With our existing Texas Eastern system footprint, Spectra Energy can readily connect the shale gas production potential from the Marcellus and Utica shales to the doorstep of an exciting, high-demand market," Fiedorek added.  "We hope to reach a mutually beneficial arrangement with AGL Resources to anchor this project, and are confident we also can meet the future needs of other potential customers in the Southeast."

The non-binding open season will commence March 2, 2012, and end March 30, 2012. For more information about this project and the non-binding open season, please visit our new projects page at www.spectraenergy.com.

Spectra Energy Corp (NYSE: SE), a FORTUNE 500 company, is one of North America's premier natural gas infrastructure companies serving three key links in the natural gas value chain: gathering and processing, transmission and storage, and distribution. For more than a century, Spectra Energy and its predecessor companies have developed critically important pipelines and related infrastructure connecting natural gas supply sources to premium markets. Based in Houston, Texas, the company's operations in the United States and Canada include more than 19,000 miles of transmission pipeline, over 305 billion cubic feet of storage, as well as natural gas gathering and processing, natural gas liquids operations and local distribution assets. The company also has a 50 percent ownership in DCP Midstream, one of the largest natural gas gatherers and processors in the United States. Spectra Energy is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability World and North America Indexes and the U.S. S&P 500 Carbon Disclosure Project's Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index. For more information, visit www.spectraenergy.com.

SOURCE Spectra Energy Corp