The tentative plan is to build a third pipeline beginning in the Ayacucho highlands and running to a gas-export plant scheduled to be built south of Lima. "We will have to build a new compression station and a new branch line. We have bought the necessary land," the spokesman said. He could not provide a cost estimate or time frame. "There is definite interest, but there is still a lot to define," he said. Gas from block 56 is earmarked for export by Peru LNG Co, a consortium created by US-based Hunt Oil Co and SK Corp. to export around 4.4million tons/yr of LNG by 2008 or early 2009. TGP shareholders have met and have agreed to analyze ways to handle the gas from block 56, and have also decided to create a committee to negotiate a gas-transportation contract between TGP and Peru LNG. Fernando Deustua said that the existing pipelines will not be modified in the area that runs through the Amazon jungle: TGP has come under fire from environmentalists who claim the project has harmed ecosystems and affected the health of local indigenous peoples. "The pipeline in the jungle will not be expanded as it has sufficient capacity," he said. TGP is made up of various companies, including Techint's Tecgas NV, HuntOil Co, Pluspetrol Peru Corp., Sonatrach Petroleum Corp., SK Corp., and Tractebel SA, a unit of the Suez group. Story courtesy Global Pipeline Monthly - www.gasandoil.com/gpm.