Constructed

TEPPCO Partners LP and Enterprise Products Partners LP on Wednesday announced the start-up of a new pipeline loop that was constructed as part of the Phase V expansion of the Jonah Gas Gathering System in southwest Wyoming, which serves producers in the prolific Jonah and Pinedale fields.

FERC issued a certificate for construction of the Unocal Windy Hill bedded salt gas storage facility, which will be constructed in two phases in Morgan County, CO, and connected to the Cheyenne Plains, Colorado Interstate Gas and Public Service Company of Colorado pipeline systems. When fully completed the storage field will provide 6 Bcf of working gas capacity and 400 MMcf/d of deliverability under market-based rates (see Daily GPI, Nov. 9).

Cannonball, the first platform designed and constructed in Trinidad and Tobago, produced its first natural gas earlier this month and at full production in the next few weeks will ramp up to about 800 MMcf/d, BP plc reported.

A 32-year veteran of efforts to build an Arctic natural gas pipeline is betting against one being constructed from either Alaska or the Mackenzie Delta. Harvie Andre, chairman of Arctigas Resources Corp., said “it’s just a small bet (C$100, US$66). I hope I’m wrong. But it smells like the 1970s all over again.”

A 32-year veteran of efforts to build an Arctic natural gas pipeline is betting against one being constructed from either Alaska or the Mackenzie Delta. Harvie Andre, chairman of Arctigas Resources Corp., said “it’s just a small bet (C$100, US$66). I hope I’m wrong. But it smells like the 1970s all over again.”

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday issued a series of rulings that would pave the way for new pipeline and expansion projects proposed by Colorado Interstate Gas (CIG), Southern Natural Gas (Sonat), East Tennessee Natural Gas, Texas Eastern Transmission (Tetco) and Petal Gas Storage LLC.

Shut-ins from Tropical Storm Isidore and property sales failed to slow down natural gas production for Magnum Hunter Resources Inc., which doubled its quarterly production from 2001. The Irving, TX-based independent reported actual production volumes of 19.8 Bcfe, averaging 215 MMcfe/d, and said its total equivalent production volumes were weighted 67% toward natural gas.

An Alaska natural gas pipeline from the North Slope to the Lower 48 states would be constructed with “less delay and at a lower price” as a result of the financial incentives and expedited processing procedures proposed in the Senate omnibus energy bill (S. 517), according to a new report issued by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Magnum Hunter Resources said a subsidiary has entered into a sale-leaseback transaction on three newly constructed offshore production platforms and associated pipelines that were recently placed into service. The three platforms are located offshore Louisiana in federal waters and are located on OCS Lease Blocks South Timbalier 266, Main Pass 164 and Main Pass 178. The company has received a total of $11.2 million in new funding that has been used for general corporate purposes, including a voluntary reduction under the company’s corporate bank revolving credit facility. No reduction in its existing bank revolving credit commitment resulted from these new lease transactions. The new production platforms are being leased from a syndicate group of lenders led by General Electric Capital Corp. The leases have a primary term of three years and based upon current interest rates, the cost of funds to Magnum Hunter is 5.30% per annum. CFO Chris Tong said, “The financing terms are very attractive to Magnum Hunter given today’s low interest rate environment. With the funding received from the closing of this transaction, our company can re-deploy capital back into our core business of drilling and developing some of our recent new oil and gas discoveries.”