Elk Hills Power LLC in Pre-Commissioning Phase of California Plant

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Elk Hills Power, LLC, a joint venture between Sempra Energy Resources and Occidental Energy Ventures, is in the pre-commissioning phase of a 570 megawatt (MW) power plant near Bakersfield, California. By mid November, plans are to perform an oil flush, chemical clean, steam blowouts, and pigging of a gas pipeline. The project, in development since 1998, started construction in May of 2001 and is scheduled to begin commercial operation April 23, 2003.

Merchant Power Engineers & Constructors (MPEC), a partnership of Parsons Energy and Chemicals Group, a unit of Parsons, Incorporated (Pasadena, California) and The Industrial Company (TIC) (Steamboat Springs, Colorado), has responsibility for engineering, construction, procurement, and commissioning of the plant.

Sempra Energy Resources, a unit of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) (San Diego, California), acquires and develops power plants and energy infrastructure for the competitive market. In all, Sempra Energy Resources has nearly 6,000 megawatts (MW) of new generating capacity in active operation or development, with over 3,000 MW located in the Southwest.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: OXY) (Los Angeles, California) is a leader in developing integrated solutions to convert natural gas reserves into clean-burning, cost-effective energy to fuel economic expansion. Subsidiaries of the company, including Occidental Energy Ventures Corp., Occidental Chemical Corporation, and Occidental Oil and Gas Corporation, have a proven record of leadership in safe and environmentally sensitive oil and gas exploration and production, natural gas pipeline and storage development, power generation, and the manufacturing of commodity chemicals.