The Energy Information Administration reported that 47 Bcf ofworking gas in Michigan storage facilities was reclassified as basegas in March, which means working gas levels at the end of thewinter heating season were 3% lower than first reported, or 1,430Bcf compared to 1,477.

The revised level of working gas at the end of March still was245 Bcf more than at the same time a year earlier and still was thehighest level in the past seven years – at the end of March in 1992there was 1,545 Bcf of working gas, but the record level wasachieved in 1983 with 2,148 Bcf of total working gas in storage.

ANR Pipeline confirmed it was responsible for thereclassification. In its last rate case ANR requested that 62.1 Bcfof working gas in its Michigan storage fields be reclassified asbase gas, and about 15 Bcf of that was located in five fields thatlater were abandoned or no longer used for storage: Coldwater,Croton, North Hamilton, Norwich and Orient.

“For accounting purposes it was effective [January] 1997, but interms of operationally reporting it to EIA, we just got around toit April 1 of this year,” said ANR spokesman Joe Martucci.

One other storage change that’s likely to occur in Michigan andaffect EIA’s statistics this summer is the introduction of theWashington 10 storage field in Macomb County. The new field, whichis owned and operated by MCN, started injecting gas in April andhas 41.6 Bcf of working gas capacity and 400 MMcf/d ofdeliverability.

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