Afternoon

El Paso declared an Unauthorized Overpull Penalty situation late Tuesday afternoon, citing “low linepack, the unavailability of withdrawal capability at Washington Ranch storage facility and continued forecasted warm weather in our operating area.”

Williams said Friday afternoon that it has completed the previously announced sale of its Texas Gas Transmission pipeline to a subsidiary of Loews Corp. for approximately $1.045 billion, which includes approximately $795 million in cash and $250 million in existing Texas Gas debt.

Williams said Friday afternoon that it has completed the previously announced sale of its Texas Gas Transmission pipeline to a subsidiary of Loews Corp. for approximately $1.045 billion, which includes approximately $795 million in cash and $250 million in existing Texas Gas debt.

Puget Sound Energy (PSE) and Williams Northwest Pipeline (WNP) announced Friday afternoon that they have reached an agreement for WNP to construct a pipeline expansion project to increase the reliability of the utility’s natural gas system in Snohomish County, WA.

A higher than expected weekly gas storage injection of 61 Bcf sent May futures tumbling to an early afternoon low of $5.38 Thursday, down more than 20 cents from its earlier high of $5.59. Light short-covering entered the fray in the last 90 minutes as locals and other short-term traders took profits near the end of what has been a very profitable week. May finished at $5.474, down 9.5 cents for the session but nearly a dime above its low for the day.

El Paso declared an Unauthorized Overpull Penalty situation late Thursday afternoon due to low linepack and forecasts of continued cold weather in its operating area. The Washington Ranch storage facility is experiencing maximum withdrawals, El Paso said. To insure system integrity, it will limit scheduled volumes at underperforming interconnects.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services upgraded its opinion on Dynegy Inc. Tuesday afternoon, after the company offered an upbeat, investor-inspiring earnings forecast that beat Wall Street expectations.

As of Thursday afternoon Matagorda Offshore Pipeline System had not announced any shut-ins resulting from its pigging operation this week (see Daily GPI, Dec. 10). However, it has scheduled similar pig runs from the Mustang Island 758 platform to the onshore Tivoli (TX) Station for Jan. 6-10 and Jan. 21-24, and in each case advised shippers that shut-ins will be needed if liquids volumes are too great to be handled at Tivoli.

The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) said it plans to hold a special Nymex Access electronic trading session on Wednesday afternoon so that the natural gas futures market will be open during the release of the Energy Information Administration’s weekly natural gas storage report.