Causes

About 100 residents were evacuated within a five-mile radius of an explosion that occurred along TransCanada PipeLines mainline near Brookdale, MB, on Sunday April 14 at 11 p.m. (CDT). The explosion and fire occurred along a portion of the system in a relatively remote area. There were no reported injuries, and about 5.2 Bcf/d of gas is continuing to flow through three of the six mainline pipes there. By Friday, only one line remained out of service.

Is there any corner of the U.S. society that hasn’t been touched by the so-called “Enron Effect”? Even the nation’s “fourth estate,” daily newspapers, reported that business editors now are taking a new, harder look at the companies they cover to avoid any more surprises among bastions of commerce, according to a report in this week’s (March 11) newspaper industry magazine Editor & Publisher.

North Carolina Natural Gas (NCNG) employees last week were working to repair a ruptured gas transmission pipeline that serves the New Bern, NC area. The line, located near the intersection of Racetrack Road and State Road 1005, was struck by a construction contractor’s equipment at 3:35 p.m. last Monday. No injuries were reported. Emergency personnel secured the scene of the break and evacuated 500 people in the area. Power also was cut off in the area.

North Carolina Natural Gas (NCNG) employees are working to repair a ruptured gas transmission pipeline that serves the New Bern, NC area. The line, located near the intersection of Racetrack Road and State Road 1005, was struck by a construction contractor’s equipment at 3:35 p.m. Monday. No injuries were reported. Emergency personnel secured the scene of the break and evacuated 500 people in the area. Power also was cut off in the area.

Traders not only talked about the weather Wednesday, but also did something about it: namely, sent spot prices skyrocketing by 30-60 cents or more in most cases. The biggest increases came at frigid Northeast and Midwest citygates, topped by gains of nearly 80 cents at Transco’s Zone 6-NYC pool.

Pipelines across the nation were packed with gas last week, storage rose 7 Bcf to 3,107 Bcf, or 94% full, and mild temperatures cut demand virtually to zero. Gas prices Friday for weekend flows plummeted as much as 50 cents at some western locations to the lowest marks seen since 1996. Many locations averaged 30-40 cent declines on top of 40 cent drops the day prior, and with a long holiday weekend coming up and only slightly cooler weather expected in most markets, many traders and marketers feared the spot market still could lose significant ground in the days ahead.

Top energy regulators and industry officials debated the causes of last year’s record high gas prices in California during a House subcommittee hearing last week that featured a thorough review of the El Paso market manipulation case and all the issues contributing to the serious natural gas market malfunction. FERC Chairman Pat Wood said he does not see a need for legislative action. He believes last year’s high gas prices were the result mainly of multiple supply and demand factors and a mismatch between interstate and California intrastate pipeline capacity, which state LDCs and regulators are in the process of correcting.

The tropical storm threat was fading, but hotter weather was returning in many areas, prompting mild firmness in the cash market Monday. Most points ranged from flat to as much as about 30 cents higher in the case of Transco Zone 6-NYC, but there were a few small downturns thrown into the mix.

Cash prices rebounded virtually everywhere Monday except in California as traders returned from the long Good Friday/Easter weekend. Most gains were between about a dime and 15 cents, with the Rockies seeing mostly smaller ones that ranged from flat to up about a nickel, and points in the Northeast and Appalachia registering larger advances of about 20 cents or more.