24-02-09 Colonial Pipeline announced it had indefinitely postponed plans to expand its petroleum pipeline between Gulf Coast refineries and Atlanta. Demand for gasoline and other petroleum products is down, making it difficult to project future market conditions, the company said.
Tim Felt, Colonial's new president and CEO, said the Alpharetta-based company was "eager to build this new pipeline, but we believe the prudent and conservative approach is best at this time."

Colonial had planned to start construction on the $ 3 bn pipeline in 2011. Negotiations with about 500 landowners for easements in Cobb, Paulding, Carroll and Haralson counties would have started next year.
Now the timeline is uncertain, said Sam Whitehead, a Colonial spokesman.

Colonial first announced plans to build a third, 460-mile pipeline next to its two existing pipelines in 2006. Colonial's pipes, which run underground from Houston to New York Harbour, transport about 70 % of the petroleum used in Georgia, including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
Despite the delay, the company is still seeking the proper permits from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.

A decision is expected in March, said state geologist Jim Kennedy.
Because Colonial is the first company to seek a petroleum permit under a 1995 law, it's unclear whether any EPD permit would have an expiration date, Kennedy said.