Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 7 / Tuesday, January 11, 2011 / Notices 1659 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

[Public Notice 7291] 

Notice of Receipt of Application for a 

Presidential Permit To Construct, 

Operate and Maintain Pipeline 

Facilities on the Border of the United 

States 

Notice is hereby given that the 

Department of State has received an 

application to construct, operate and 

maintain pipeline facilities on the 

border of the United States from 

Vantage Pipeline US LP (‘‘Applicant’’ or 

‘‘Vantage’’), a limited partnership duly 

organized under the laws of the State of 

Delaware. According to the application, 

Vantage’s general partner is Vantage 

Pipeline US GP LLC, a Delaware limited 

liability company, and its limited 

partner is Mistral Energy US Inc., a 

subsidiary of Mistral Energy Inc., which 

is a private company based in Calgary, 

Alberta, Canada with over 25 years 

experience in the design, construction 

and operation of energy infrastructure 

projects in western Canada. 

The application also states that 

Mistral Energy US Inc. intends to 

transfer its ownership position in 

Vantage prior to construction of the 

pipeline facilities to a yet to be formed 

limited partnership named RiverstoneMistral US LP (‘‘Riverstone-Mistral’’). 

Riverstone-Mistral US LP will be a 

Delaware limited partnership located at: 

712 Fifth Avenue, 19th Floor, New 

York, NY 10019. According to 

information submitted to the 

Department, the limited partners of 

Riverstone-Mistral US LP will be Mistral 

Energy US Inc, an affiliate of Mistral 

Energy, Inc., and Riverstone/Carlyle 

Fund IV, which is managed by 

Riverstone Holdings, LLC. The 

Department has also been advised that 

Riverstone Holdings, LLC, a Delaware 

entity owned by the two founders of 

Riverstone Holdings LLC, David 

Leuschen and Pierre Lepeyre, Jr, is an 

energy and power-focused private 

equity firm founded in 2000. 

In a supplemental submission from 

the Vantage Pipeline’s legal counsel, it 

was explained that Riverstone/Carlyle 

Fund IV LP is also a Delaware 

partnership based at the same address as 

Riverstone-Mistral US LP and that its 

General Partner is Riverstone/Carlyle 

Energy Partners IV, LP. The submission 

also explained that the Carlyle Group, a 

Washington DC-based asset 

management firm, holds an indirect 

minority interest (less than 20%) in 

Riverstone/Carlyle Energy Partners IV, 

LP and, through that ownership, has an 

indirect ownership interest in 

Riverstone/Carlyle Fund IV LP. Lastly, 

the submission explains that 

Riverstone/Carlyle Fund IV LP is 

controlled by an investment committee, 

which is in turn controlled by 

Riverstone/Carlyle Energy Partners, LP, 

and that Riverstone Holdings LLC is the 

General Partner of Riverstone/Carlyle 

Energy Partners, LP and thus indirectly 

controls Riverstone/Carlyle Fund IV LP. 

The applicant seeks a Presidential 

Permit authorizing the construction, 

operation, and maintenance of a 10–12 

inch diameter liquid pipeline, known as 

the Vantage Pipeline, at the U.S.-Canada 

border near Fortuna, North Dakota. 

Vantage seeks authorization to 

construct, operate and maintain this 

cross-border pipeline between the 

northern-most valve in the United States 

and the U.S.-Canada border (i.e., the 

border crossing facilities). 

The planned Vantage Pipeline will be 

a high vapor pressure (‘‘HVP’’) pipeline 

designed to transport liquid ethane from 

Hess Corporation’s natural gas 

processing plant in Tioga, North Dakota 

to the Alberta Ethane Gathering System 

(AEGS) in Alberta, Canada, a distance of 

approximately 430 miles. 

Approximately 80 of those miles of 

pipeline will be located in the United 

States. 

According to the application, the 

ethane transported in the Vantage 

Pipeline is a flammable liquid that is 

non-corrosive, odorless, and colorless It 

has similar characteristics to natural gas, 

the fuel that is used in furnaces to heat 

homes. Ethane is currently used as a 

feedstock by the Alberta petrochemical 

industry and is ultimately converted to 

plastics, anti-freeze, rubber, detergents, 

solvents and like products. 

The Applicant submits that the 

Vantage Pipeline will serve the national 

interest by providing the natural gas, oil 

and ethane-producing Bakken 

Formation region of North Dakota with 

access to the existing ethane AEGS 

infrastructure and market in Alberta. 

Currently no market exists for 

petrochemical grade (also known as 

‘‘specification’’ or ‘‘pure grade’’) ethane 

in North Dakota; however, the 

construction of the Vantage Pipeline 

will make it feasible to extract the 

ethane byproduct from North Dakotaproduced natural gas and export it for 

use in the Canadian petrochemical 

industry. The Applicant contends that 

the pipeline therefore will enhance 

exports from the United States, allow 

U.S. natural gas producers to recognize 

benefits from an existing resource from 

which they are not presently 

recognizing any financial benefit, and 

will contribute to the national economy 

in terms of job creation and tax 

payments. 

As required by E.O. 13337, the 

Department of State is circulating this 

application to concerned federal 

agencies for comment. Consistent with 

Section 102(C) of the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4332(C)) and 

implementing regulations promulgated 

by the Council on Environmental 

Quality (40 CFR Parts 1500–1508) and 

the Department of State (22 CFR Part 

161), including in particular 22 CFR 

161.7(c)(1), the Department of State 

intends to prepare an environmental 

assessment (EA) to evaluate the 

potential environmental effects of the 

proposed project and to determine 

whether to prepare an environmental 

impact statement. In that connection, 

the applicant states that it intends to 

provide the Department with an 

environmental report in the coming 

weeks in support of the application. The 

Department also intends to conduct 

consultations on possible impacts to 

traditional or cultural properties with 

interested Native American tribes 

consistent with Section 106 of the 

National Historical Preservation Act 

(NHPA). 

The purpose of this Notice of Intent 

is to inform the public about the 

application and to solicit public 

comments. 

DATES: Interested parties are invited to 

submit, in duplicate, comments relative 

to this application on or before [30 days 

from publication of this notice] to 

Alexander Yuan, OES/ENV, NEPA 

Compliance Officer, Room 2627, Office 

of Environment, Oceans and 

International Environmental Affairs, 

Department of State, Washington, DC 

20520. Comments can also be e-mailed 

to YuanAW@state.gov. The application 

and related documents that are part of 

the record to be considered by the 

Department of State in connection with 

this application are available for 

inspection in the Office of International 

Energy and Commodities Policy during 

normal business hours. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alex 

Yuan at (202) 647–4284; or by e-mail at 

YuanAW@State.gov or Michael P. 

Stewart, Office of International Energy 

and Commodity Policy (EB/ESC/IEC/ 

EPC), Department of State, Washington, 

DC 20520; or by telephone at (202) 647– 

1291; or by e-mail at 

StewartMP@State.gov. 

Dated: January 5, 2011. 

Stephen J. Gallogly, 

Director, Office of International Energy and 

Commodity Policy, Department of State. 

[FR Doc. 2011–352 Filed 1–10–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–07–P 

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