TransCanada Corp. has lost the second round of its years-long contest with natural gas shippers over proposed restructuring of finances and services for its shaky Mainline from Alberta to Ontario, Quebec and export routes to the Midwest and eastern United States.
Bear
Articles from Bear
It’s Strike Two for TransCanada in Mainline Toll Battle
TransCanada Corp. has lost the second round of its years-long contest with natural gas shippers over proposed restructuring of finances and services for its shaky Mainline from Alberta to Ontario, Quebec and export routes to the Midwest and eastern United States.
Ram Energy Buyout in Works by Ex-Petrohawk Chief
Former Petrohawk Energy Corp. CEO Floyd C. Wilson, who recently created Halcon Resources LLC, is working with a group of investors to buy Tulsa-based Ram Energy Resources Inc., a small-cap explorer that operates primarily in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.
Transportation Notes
Saying its system was operating at high inventories and its two storage fields (Bear Creek in northwest Louisiana and Muldon in Mississippi) are at maximum injection capability, Southern implemented an OFO Type 6 for long imbalances Thursday until further notice. The pipeline said it was highly likely that the OFO would continue through Friday, but a further extension for Saturday was “too close to call.”
Traders Mull Near-Term Weakness, Longer-Term Strength
October natural gas trudged lower Friday as traders see widening differentials auguring further weakness. October fell 6.9 cents to $3.809 and November dropped 5.9 cents to $3.922. October crude oil shed $1.44 to $87.96/bbl.
Transportation Notes
Noting that it has limited operational flexibility to manage imbalances due to testing of its Bear Creek storage fields, Tennessee said it would implement Saturday a systemwide Imbalance Warning that requires all delivery point operators to keep actual daily takes out of the system equal to or greater than scheduled quantities and all receipt point operators to keep actual daily receipts into the system equal to or less than scheduled quantities. Both conditions apply regardless of an operator’s cumulative imbalance position. The pipeline also declared a force majeure Thursday night in connection with a leak on its line 3 section downstream of Station 110 near Moorehead, KY. Tennessee said it immediately activated its emergency response plan and dispatched personnel to the scene to close valves and isolate the segment between Main Line Valves 111-3 and 111-3A. Based on current nominations, Tennessee did not anticipate any outage-related service restrictions for the gas days of Thursday and Friday.
Marcellus Coalition Looking Forward to Corbett Administration
The administration of Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Tom Corbett, who is scheduled to be inaugurated in Harrisburg Jan. 18, should be a breath of fresh air for the natural gas industry, which saw outgoing Gov. Ed Rendell’s administration put state forest land off limits to drillers and push for a significant severance tax of 5% on drilling, according to Marcellus Shale Coalition President Kathryn Klaber.
Transportation Notes
Due to reduced takeaway capacity from Bear Creek storage in northwest Louisiana that impacted its ability to maintain linepack, Tennessee said a Critical Day 1 OFO in upstream Zones L, 1 and 2 will become effective Monday for all LMS-PA Balancing Parties. They will be required to maintain “an actual daily flow rate not exceeding a tolerance of 2% of scheduled quantities or 500 Dth, whichever is greater, for underdeliveries into the system and overtakes from the system.” See the bulletin board for other details.
Transportation Notes
Southern Natural Gas has scheduled a shut-in test at the Bear Creek Storage Field in North Louisiana from Tuesday through next Monday. The test constitutes a force majeure event, Southern said, and as a result each CSS customer will be allocated 64% of its currently effective Daily Injection Quantity and Daily Withdrawal Quantity. Those customers were advised that the allocations will affect not only their CSS service, but also related injection/withdrawal capacity under no-notice firm transportation service.
Transportation Notes
Florida Gas Transmission lifted Thursday an Overage Alert Day that had been in effect for the previous two days.