April

Southern Natural Gas said its shut-in test of the Muldon (MS) Storage Field from Tuesday through April 20 constitutes a force majeure event and it will reduce CSS customers’ injection and withdrawal quotas on a pro rata basis during the test. See the bulletin board for details.

California’s generation sector reached three major milestones at the start of April, all of which could have an impact on future fuel loads and generation operations in the nation’s most populous state: grid operators gained a new day-ahead market, climate change scientific impact assessments were released and a U.S. Supreme Court decision offered some solace for the state’s proliferation of coastal, sea water-cooled generation plants.

NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage (NGT&S) unit Columbia Gas Transmission (CGT) is holding a binding open season until 12 p.m. CDT April 3 for transportation capacity to Eastern markets following modifications to CGT’s Easton Compressor Station. The modifications were designed to increase delivery capacity from the Wagoner interconnection point between Columbia and Millennium pipelines on Columbia’s Line 1278. Increased capacity would be available for areas 21-25, 28-29 and/or 30. Information is available at www.ngtsnavigates.com or by contacting Joshua Gibbon at jgibbon@nisource.com; (713) 267-4718.

MRT kept a System Protection Warning in place for Tuesday only, lifting it at the start of Wednesday’s gas day.

After dropping less than a nickel on Monday, April natural gas futures rebounded on Tuesday, but traders and analysts were quick to note that a sustained tally was unlikely. The prompt-month contract closed 13 cents higher on the day at $4.282.

As of April, about 200 U.S. gas pipeline projects have been proposed for development between this year and 2010, accounting for more than 10,000 miles of potential pipe additions. Put another way, “Pipeline infrastructure expansion activity again appears to be on an upswing,” the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a pipeline capacity report released last Thursday.

FERC last Thursday ordered an administrative law judge (ALJ) hearing to determine whether certain natural gas futures trading activities by Amaranth Advisors LLC, seven affiliates and two former traders violated the agency’s anti-manipulation regulations.

As of April, about 200 U.S. gas pipeline projects have been proposed for development between this year and 2010, accounting for more than 10,000 miles of potential pipe additions. Put another way, “Pipeline infrastructure expansion activity again appears to be on an upswing,” the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a pipeline capacity report released Thursday.

Devon Energy Corp.’s net Barnett Shale production surpassed the magic number of 1 Bcfe/d in April, a milestone achieved 21 months ahead of the company’s original target date.