Pacific Gas & Electric extended a systemwide Stage 2 high-inventory OFO into its third day Saturday. Penalties were unchanged, but the tolerance for positive daily imbalances was loosened from 5% to 13%.

Southern Natural Gas said it is lifting some of the restrictions on nonfirm storage transactions (interruptible and make-up) that were implemented last May (see Daily GPI, May 25) and were a result of historically high storage inventories on its system. “Since that posting, Southern has seen improvement in the rate at which storage is being filled,” the pipeline said Thursday. It listed these changes: (1) Daily nominations for net injections into Interruptible Storage Service (ISS), Park and Loan (PAL) and due-pipeline imbalance make-ups will be evaluated in each scheduling cycle and scheduled according to tariff-specified priorities. (2) Requests for transfers from a shipper’s firm storage (CSS) account to an ISS account will be evaluated when they are received. (3) Timely requests to resolve end-of-the-month imbalances via a transfer to a Shipper’s ISS account will be evaluated at the time such elections are submitted starting with monthly imbalances incurred during October 2006. A notice will be posted on the bulletin board by Nov. 9 stating whether or not such transfers will be permitted.

Northwest expected to complete line replacement and pigging facility installations near the Kemmerer (WY) Compressor Station as scheduled Friday and said a Declared Deficiency Period would end when design capacity was restored. Kemmerer would be set to its north-flow design capacity of 653,000 Dth/d for Saturday’s gas day. Northwest also rescheduled pig runs between the Pleasant View and La Plata Compressor Stations that were originally scheduled to be completed in October. The first run is set for Wednesday and will limit available capacity at the Pleasant View Compressor Station to 284,000 Dth/d. The second run will be made Friday and will limit Pleasant View compressor to 302,000 Dth/d. “Please note that these capacity estimates include interconnect assistance,” Northwest said. “If the interconnects are unable to assist, additional capacity reductions may be required. Should primary nominations exceed available capacity, Northwest will declare a deficiency period and cut nominations accordingly.” In addition, thanking customers who helped with balancing in recent weeks during shut-ins of the Jackson Prairie and Clay Basin storage facilities, Northwest said its storage account at Jackson Prairie has diminished in excess of 900,000 Dth and it can no longer accept drafting of the system. Northwest asked any customer that owes gas to the pipeline to arrange for payback. Northwest advising that it is no longer maximizing capacity at the Kemmerer Compressor Station and will be leaving it at design capacity until further notice.

Dominion said Thursday it was allowing production in bubbles 3201, 3202, 3203, 3204, 3205, 3206 and 3207 to return on-line. Those bubbles feed gas into the Jones and Orma Stations on Dominion’s Southern Wet System. The pipeline also said it was returning units 7 and 8 at the Cornwell Station to service, affecting all wet gas deliveries in bubble 2206 and any direct deliveries into the H-162 Line; however, producers were required to check with the Cheylan office before restoring any shut-in production. Cornwell unit 9 will not yet return to service, Dominion said, requiring that bubbles 2207, 3226, 3227 and 3225 remain shut in.

El Paso said Friday it has determined that additional maintenance is required on Bondad Station’s 1B unit, for which parts were unavailable at that point. Final repairs are scheduled for Tuesday, during which capacity through the station will be reduced by 131 MMcf/d (from a base of 746 MMcf/d) during nomination cycles 1, 2 and 3. If repairs are completed as planned, the unit will be available for cycle 4 and the capacity restriction will be reduced from 131 MMcf/d to 65 MMcf/d, El Paso said, adding that full capacity should be restored Wednesday.

Westcoast restored its imbalance tolerance range to the normal 10% pack/10% draft Saturday.

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