Pacific & Texas, Pan Kai to Build Pipeline

Pacific & Texas Pipeline & Transport Co., a closely held energy company based in Phoenix, said it formed a joint venture with Pan Kai Development USA Inc. to build a $3.5-billion crude-oil pipeline in the southwestern U.S. The proposed 1,070-mile pipeline would be able to carry 900,000 barrels a day from ships in the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles to Midland, Texas. The oil then could be shipped to refineries along the Gulf of Mexico. The companies expect to complete construction in 2002. Producers in Alaska often move their oil south by ship along the West Coast, through the Panama Canal, then north to refineries in the Gulf, said Pacific & Texas spokesman Matt Matlock. The proposed pipeline would give producers a faster, cheaper way to move oil, he said. Private investors formed Phoenix-based Pacific & Texas to build the pipeline, Matlock said. The shares of Las Vegas-based Pan Kai rose 3 cents to close at 75 cents in over-the-counter trading. It was not immediately clear if the companies had received the necessary approvals to begin construction.