U.S. Southwest Market Region Expects More Than $6.4 Billion in First-Quarter Project Completions

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The U.S. Southwest market region, which consists of the states of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas, has more than $6.4 billion of projects that have already been completed or are slated for completion during the first quarter of this year. While some of dates of the scheduled completions will be pushed out to the second quarter as delays in construction or other hindrances occur, most of these projects will be completed, providing a solid foundation for 2013 plant openings in the region.

Click on image at right for a breakdown by industry of completed and planned 1Q13 industrial project completions in the Southwest market region.

The Oil & Gas Transmission and Production industries, each with $1.3 billion in planned or finished project completions, are neck and neck for the top spot in terms of project value. With $1.18 billion in planned completions, the Power Industry follows in a close third.

Among the largest projects to have already been completed this quarter is the 570-mile West Texas Gateway NGL Pipeline. The project, which has an estimated total investment value (TIV) of $595 million, is owned by Lone Star NGL LLC (Midland, Texas), a joint venture that is owned 70% by Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE:ETP) (Dallas, Texas) and 30% by Regency Energy Partners LP (NYSE:RGP) (Dallas). The pipeline will carry natural gas liquids from just south of Midland to Energy Transfer Partners' natural gas processing plant in Jackson County, Texas, in the Eagle Ford Shale. The processing plant is under construction and will be completed in the next few months.

Another natural gas-related project completed earlier this year is the expansion of Copano Energy LLC's (NASDAQ:CPNO) (Houston, Texas) Houston Central Natural Gas Processing Complex in Texas. The $145 million project added a 400 million-standard-cubic-feet-per-day processing plant, bringing the plant's total processing capacity to 1.1 billion cubic feet per day to accommodate increased natural gas production from the Eagle Ford Shale.

In the Power Industry, one of the larger projects completed earlier this year is the replacement of two steam generators and the reactor vessel closure head at Entergy Corporation's (NYSE:ETR) (New Orleans, Louisiana) Waterford Unit 3 Nuclear Power Station in Louisiana. The project will improve the performance and extend the life of the 1,159-megawatt unit, which began operations in 1985.

Information on these and other projects is available in Industrial Info's North American Industrial Project Database.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.