Union Gas is holding a binding open season for long-term peak storage space at its 150 Bcf Dawn storage hub in Ontario. Three-year storage services are being offered with terms beginning in April 2006.

Union said the open season will target the demand from a recent non-binding open season that Union held in conjunction with several other Duke Energy subsidiaries, including Texas Eastern Transmission and Algonquin Gas Transmission (see Daily GPI, Oct. 6, 2004). During the previous open season Duke said it received shipper interest in more than 3 Bcf/d of firm transportation service on Union’s pipeline system and more than 50 Bcf of storage expansion capacity at the Dawn Hub. At least one expression of interest came from a proposed LNG facility in eastern Canada, the company said at the time.

“Access to storage is a key element in providing gas supply reliability and flexibility” said Greg Ebel, president of Union Gas. “Dawn not only provides access to storage, but is also a central hub providing access to both a variety of supply sources as well as eastern Canadian and northeastern U.S. markets downstream of Dawn through Union’s Dawn-Parkway transportation system. With the expansion of our Dawn-Trafalgar pipeline in 2006 and 2007, long-term Dawn storage has become increasingly important to our customers.”

The Dawn Hub hosted an average of more than 6.8 Bcf/d of trading activity in 2004. There are interconnections with 10 major pipelines at the Dawn Hub. Customers wishing to bid on storage at Dawn should submit their binding bids by June 23.

©Copyright 2005Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.