15-02-05 Transportadora de Gas del Peru, or TGP, may build a third pipeline to transport natural gas from block 56 in Peru's jungle region for export, company spokesman Fernando Deustua said.
TGP currently operates twin pipelines that bring gas and liquids from block 88, also located in a southern jungle region, across the Andes to the coast for domestic use.

The tentative plan is to build a third pipeline beginning in the Ayacucho highlands and running to a gas export plant scheduled to be built south of Lima.
"We will have to build a new compression station and a new branch line. We have bought the necessary land," said Deustua. "There is definite interest, but there is still a lot to define," he said. Gas from block 56 is earmarked for export by Peru LNG, a consortium created by US-based Hunt Oil and SK Corp. to export some 4.4 mm tpy of LNG by 2008 or early 2009.

TGP shareholders met and agreed to analyse ways to handle the gas from block 56. Shareholders also decided to create a committeeto negotiate a gas transportation contract between TGP and Peru LNG.
Deustua said the existing pipelines won't be modified in the area that runs through the Amazon jungle. TGP has come under fire from environmentalists who claim the project has harmed ecosystems and affected the health of local indigenous peoples.
"The pipeline in the jungle will not be expanded as it has sufficient capacity," he said.

TGP is made up of various companies, including Techint's Tecgas; Hunt Oil, PlusPetrol Peru, Sonatrach Petroleum, SK Corp. and Tractebel, a unit of the Suez group (SZE).