BP CANADA ENERGY MARKETING COMPANY AND SECURE ENERGY, INCORPORATED ANNOUNCE A LONG TERM NATURAL GAS SALES AGREEMENT FOR THE SECURE ENERGY DECATUR, ILLINOIS GASIFICATION PLANT
September 15, 2008
St. Louis, MO – BP Canada Energy Marketing Company (BP) and Secure Energy, Incorporated announced today that they have entered into a long term natural gas sales agreement whereby BP will purchase up to 67 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Secure Energy Decatur Plant once it has been constructed and becomes operational. Secure Energy will have the option to separately sell natural gas to industrial customers in the Decatur, Illinois area for a portion of its production and BP has agreed to purchase any natural gas not sold locally.
The Decatur plant will convert approximately 1.4 million tons of high-sulfur Illinois coal into over 20 billion cubic feet of natural gas each year. "We are quite pleased to have contracted with such a substantial counterparty as BP because the strength of BP's gas marketing enables Secure to focus on constructing and operating our plant knowing that our natural gas will be sold in our market. Completing this agreement is an important part of Secure Energy's plan to utilize America's abundant coal resources in an environmentally responsible way to help reduce our country's reliance on foreign sources of energy" said Jack Kenny, Co-Founder of Secure Energy.
"BP is proud to have been selected by Secure to market the output from their Decatur gasification project. We are also pleased to be a partner in Secure's vision of providing local solutions to Midwest natural gas consumers" said Lee Lunde, VP of Marketing and Trading for BP.
About BP:
BP is one of the world's largest oil and gas companies with operations in more than 100 countries across six continents. The company's main businesses are exploration and production of oil and gas; refining, manufacturing and marketing of oil products and petrochemicals; transportation and marketing of natural gas; and a growing business in renewable and low-carbon power and next generation energy technologies. Further information is available at www.bp.com.
About the Secure Energy Decatur Gasification Plant:
The Secure Energy Decatur Gasification Plant will convert coal to pipeline quality synthetic natural gas. It will be located at an existing industrial site in Decatur, Illinois. The projected plant construction cost is estimated to be $550 million and will provide employment to approximately 60 full time employees. In addition to jobs created at the plant, the project will create a considerable number of construction, mining and trucking jobs in the Decatur area. The gas produced will be transported to an interstate pipeline with access to a number of delivery points in and around the greater Chicago, Illinois area. The preliminary construction of the plant is currently underway and it is anticipated that the plant will be in operation in the summer of 2011.
About Secure Energy:
Secure Energy, Inc. is focused on commercially developing, constructing and operating coal conversion plants utilizing proven technologies.
Contacts:
BP, North America
Tom Mueller
(281) 366-1236
www.bp.com
Secure Energy Inc.
Lars Scott
(314) 853-5111
www.secureenergyinc.com