Tidelands hires financial advisor for cross-border gas projects

Texas-based oil company Tidelands Oil and Gas (OTC BB: TIDE) has hired investment banking firm Sanders Morris Harris Group to be the financial advisor on the company's Mexico projects, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Sanders Morris Harris will advise Tidelands in identifying strategic partners and with the US$336mn financing required to develop and construct the first phase of Tidelands' projects in Mexico, the statement said. This phase corresponds to two-cross border natural gas pipelines, an underground natural gas storage facility and an offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal. PIPELINES According to previous BNamericas reports, Tidelands plans to build two gas pipelines from Nuevo Progreso, Texas to Arguelles, Mexico. It will also add a 20-inch diameter, 20-mile extension to the Eagle Pass-Piedras Negras natural gas pipeline linking Texas with Mexico. The existing 10-mile, 12-inch diameter pipeline transports some 8,000mBTU a day, which will transport an additional 10,000mBTU/d from Piedras Negras once completed. These pipelines will interconnect with the proposed underground natural gas storage facility in the Burgos basin. In August, Tidelands announced that it was in the final stages of negotiations with Mexico's state oil company Pemex for the 750 billion cubic feet capacity storage facility. Tidelands is planning to buy compressors from US company Universal Compression for the facility. The facility is set to start operations in late 2006 or early 2007. LNG TERMINAL Texas-based company Remora Technology is carrying out an operational and commercial design study for the proposed Dorado LNG regasification terminal in the Gulf of Mexico. The exact site of the proposed terminal has not been released. Studies are expected to finish by the end of the first quarter this year.