PSI Midstream JANUARY 10 www. bus- ex. com 201 The plant went live on April 1, 2008, and has proved to be a good investment. " We had a real good year last year," Powell says. " We were able to pay down a considerable amount of debt, and we expect to get payback within three or four years of going online." PSI's second project was not so successful- the acquisition of a facility as a joint venture. The experience was a valuable lesson. " It soon became obvious we were not going to get a meeting of minds over what to do with the facility, so we ended up selling our interest to one of the other plant partners. Good traders know when it's time to pitch their losses," Powell says. " We now prefer to have 100 percent ownership so we can move quickly to address issues and make changes to the business model on a fairly robust basis." The third project, the acquisition of the Cameron Meadows processing plant from Williams Field Services, was completed on November 20, 2009, and PSI has been operating it since December 1. Located at Johnsons Bayou on the coast near the Texas- Louisiana border at a major pipeline crossing for the Transco, Tennessee, UTOS/ HIOS and Stingray pipelines, the Cameron Meadows plant is considerably larger than Kaplan and presents some interesting opportunities. " It's an exciting asset," Powell comments. " Currently we have only Transco as the supply pipeline for the plant, but we're looking to re- establish connections to the other pipelines to give us a broader geographic footprint for developing gas supply. We're also looking to reduce our operating costs and fuel costs." Cameron Meadows is not the only gas processing plant in the Johnsons Bayou area, though. One of the reasons PSI was attracted to this particular plant was that it was rebuilt, and the offices and control rooms are all brand new and elevated after hurricanes Rita and Ike caused a storm surge of 12 feet that caused considerable damage. Now, relatively well protected from storm surges and benefiting from the latest plant equipment repairs, Cameron Meadows is well placed to take advantage of future consolidation in the region. " There is plenty of excess processing capacity here, and the likelihood is that at least one inefficient plant will have to be shut down in the future. Our aim is to ensure we have the technology and the right blend of services to attract the gas producers. We want to ensure they see us as the service provider they wish to work with." The concept of service is absolutely vital to PSI's business, and Powell's team of highly experienced and knowledgeable individuals both understand the needs and expectations of their customers and are able to identify opportunities for growth and expansion. " The life of a start- up company is pretty tough for the first few years," he says. " Rejection comes with the territory- you'll get 100 rejections for every contract you win, but our knowledge and experience have been invaluable. As we've grown, we've created a good industry profile. People have recognized us and begun to bring ideas, and opportunities have presented themselves. We've seen this with the acquisition of Cameron." Already the company is expanding into other midstream services. " We currently have a pipeline acquisition in the offing and are in the closing processes as we speak. We're also interested in moving into onshore and offshore gathering services," Powell says. Powell believes very strongly that the Gulf of Mexico will continue to be a significant gas producing basin for many years to come. However, the company is now beginning to look farther afield to widen its geographical presence. If PSI takes advantage of some of the opportunities it's currently seeing, the likelihood is that we will see this expanding young company moving into some new areas. "" Gas in its natural state is essentially too rich to be used in the retail environment. So it has to be processed and conditioned to remove the heavier liquids and water from the gas stream to make it merchantable"

202 www. bus- ex. com JANUARY 10 Pristine Power, a relative newcomer to the energy generating industry in Canada, is trying to turn the world green in every way it can, as Alan Swaby discovers ofgreen shades Different