Cancel

Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line apparently could not stomach the rate implications of FERC’s recent order approving the $60 million Cross Bay Pipeline. The company, along with partners Duke and KeySpan, told the Commission the project is being canceled because of the rate changes proposed in the order and the lack of market interest.

Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line apparently could not stomach the rate implications of FERC’s recent order approving the $60 million Cross Bay Pipeline, which would have provided 125,000 Dth/d of incremental firm gas transportation into the New York City marketplace using a portion of Transco’s pipeline system along with new compression. Transco informed the Commission on Friday that project sponsors Williams, Duke and KeySpan will not be going through with the pipeline because of the rate changes proposed on Transco as a result of FERC’s order on Cross Bay and because the project still has no market agreements in place.

Salt Lake City-based Questar Corp. went out to bid earlier this month on four new compressors to complete its conversion work on the east-of-California portion of its 705-mile Southern Trails Pipeline from the San Juan Basin to the Long Beach port area of Southern California. The portion of the converted oil pipeline between the California border and the Four Corners Area in New Mexico will open June 1 next year, a Questar spokesman said.

Salt Lake City-based Questar Corp. went out to bid earlier this month on four new compressors to complete its conversion work on the east-of-California portion of its 705-mile Southern Trails Pipeline from the San Juan Basin to the Long Beach port area of Southern California. The portion of the converted oil pipeline between the California border and the Four Corners Area in New Mexico will open June 1 next year, a Questar spokesman said Monday.

Sonat said it will cancel an OFO Type 3 for five groups on itssystem today.

Southwest Gas Corp. has sued Oneok, Inc. and Southern Union Co.following what it called “Oneok’s unjustified attempt to cancel themerger agreement between it and Southwest Gas.”

More favorable operating conditions allowed Texas Eastern to cancelMonday the OFO for its M-3 market zone that began a week earlier (seeDaily GPI, Jan. 19). All M-3 OperationalBalancing Agreements that were suspended are back in effect, Tetcosaid, and storage nominations may be restored to pre-OFOlevels. However, a restriction on IT gas sourced upstream of M-3 anddelivered there is still in effect. Due-shipper imbalance gas may betaken in all zones again, Tetco said, as long as it is scheduledproperly and taken evenly through the rest of January. Downstreamaffiliate Algonquin similarly canceled Monday the Critical SystemWarning it had posted Jan. 17 (see Daily GPI, Jan. 19), but left in place restrictions onmainline forward hauls for Authorized Overrun gas, interruptibleservices and due-shipper makeup gas.

A recent capacity auction conducted by the Natural Gas PipelineCo. of America (NGPL) was “unreasonable and unduly preferential,”FERC said last week, but it refused to overturn the auction’sresults, as was requested by producers and marketers. It gave thepipeline the benefit of the doubt on this score, saying that NGPLhad “followed an arguable interpretation of its tariff,” which hadbeen approved by the Commission.

TransCanada Pipelines Monday canceled part of its C$403 millionsystem expansion project on its Canadian Mainline because of aninability to resolve negotiations with a local tribe of Indians,yet the pipeline company insists other parts of the expansion willcontinue. TransCanada would not disclose the nature of thedisagreement except to say the parties could not resolve aboriginaland treaty rights issues as well as future economic opportunityissues.