Chevron, Amoco Production, CanWest Gas Supply, Aera Energy andRME Petroleum have called on FERC to stop Kern River GasTransmission from overselling delivery point rights at WheelerRidge into the Southern California Gas Co. distribution system. TheFirm Shippers said in comments filed this week that, in a situationstrangely similar to the recent El Paso capacity reallocation case,Kern River has oversold capacity at Wheeler Ridge, and its proposedexpansion project will only exacerbate the situation (DocketCP01-31).

On Nov. 15, 2000, Kern filed an application to expand its systemand provide 74,500 Dth/d of additional delivery point capacity atWheeler Ridge into SoCal Gas. But Firm Shippers claim recent dataprovided by Kern and SoCal Gas indicates Kern River already hassold more than the 450 MMcf/d of firm delivery point capacity ithas available into Wheeler Ridge. Firm Shippers told FERC. KernRiver has sold 468.4 MMcf/d of capacity at Wheeler Ridge.

Not true, says Lynn Dahlberg, Kern’s manager of marketing. “Wehave to date subscribed at 450,000 dth/d. And unless we subscribeat more than 830,000 dth/d, we have not sold more capacity thanSoCal has takeaway.” The combined Kern-Mojave lines can deliver ona firm basis 600,000 dth/d, with Kern having 450,00 and Mojave150,000. “We can move more than that capacity, and we have,” sheadded.

SoCal Gas has noted that it curtails nominations from Kern on aregular basis, Shippers said. With the proposed expansion project,Kern will be “creating the same type of firm delivery pointover-sale situation that the Commission found to be unjust andunreasonable on El Paso Natural Gas at El Paso’s SoCal Gas/Topockdelivery point,” they added. While they support the expansion, theydo not want to see their firm delivery rights in SouthernCalifornia degraded. They also complained that Kern’s marketingaffiliate is one of the primary beneficiaries of the proposedadditional access to Wheeler Ridge.

Dahlberg conceded that other interstate lines also deliver tothe Wheeler Ridge point, but “adding more players to Wheeler givesmarkets on Socal more supply options. Shippers have to compete.”

The shippers are concerned, however that “substantial benefitsunder the currently structured proposal accrue primarily to KernRiver and its affiliate and would restrict the firm rights ofexisting shippers….” The Commission should prohibit Kern fromselling additional firm rights at Wheeler Ridge, or provide onlyrights to secondary and tertiary capacity that is of a lowerpriority than the rights of existing firm customers, they said.

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