In December 2005, Provident acquired a west-to-east NGL system that stretches from Taylor, British Columbia to Lynchburg, Virginia. With the acquisition, Provident became the second largest natural gas liquids (NGL) player in Canada, representing approximately 15 percent of the Canadian NGL market.

The assets that Provident acquired in December 2005 include:

- interests in four of the six straddle plants at Empress, Alberta (60 percent interest and operatorship of the former EnCana plant, 33 percent interest in the BP E1 plant, and smaller interests in the Conoco and ATCO plants)

- sole ownership and operatorship of a new debutanizer facility at Empress. The debutanizer will make condensate for sale to EnCana under a long-term agreement

- several key long-term contracts, including a gas supply arrangement for the Younger plant, first call on all EnCana gas volumes flowing through Empress, an agreement to market all of EnCana's propane-plus, and access to the main Enbridge NGL west-to-east pipeline

- minority interests in storage facilities in strategic locations at Kerrobert, Saskatchewan and Superior, Wisconsin, as well as a small depropanizer at Superior that serves the agricultural propane market in that area

- minority interests in fractionation and storage facilities in Sarnia, Ontario, the key eastern NGL hub

- sole ownership of Kinetic Resources, an NGL marketing company that sells product across North America, and that owns a storage and distribution terminal in Lynchburg, Virginia

These assets make up a solid business in their own right, and when combined with our Redwater operations, they give Provident's Midstream business unit the breadth, capacity and flexibility to take advantage of seasonal and location price differentials, offering the potential for exceptional value.