Construction

Despite the now infamous bust in gas-fired combined cycle power generation projects in development and even under construction, combined cycled capacity additions are expected to top 78,000 MW during 2003 and 2004, according to Arlington, VA-based consulting firm Energy Ventures Analysis Inc. However, actual operating results will fall far short of nameplate capacity, EVA predicted, because of tight spark spreads.

Despite the now infamous bust in gas-fired combined cycle power generation projects in development and even under construction, combined cycled capacity additions are expected to top 78,000 MW during 2003 and 2004, according to Arlington, VA-based consulting firm Energy Ventures Analysis Inc. However, actual operating results will fall far short of nameplate capacity, EVA predicted, because of tight spark spreads.

New Avoca Gas Storage LLC announced the start of its non-binding open season for storage capacity at its still under construction storage facility located in the village of Avoca in Steuben County, NY. The offering closes at 5 p.m. CST on March 15.

With construction still ongoing Friday on three of its four major transmission upgrades that will collectively add 375 MMcf/d of capacity on its transmission pipeline system, Southern California Gas Co., Los Angeles, acknowledged its modified implementation plan for its in-state pipeline/storage restructuring will be on track by the fall when crunch time comes. Even so, the detailed steps outlined in a filing with state regulators last month indicated that there will be implementation continuing through next year to fully integrate all parts of what is called the “comprehensive settlement agreement” between the gas utility and its major customer/stakeholders.

Less than three weeks after receiving a certificate for the project, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has given Kern River Gas Transmission a green light to begin constructing some of its 2003 Expansion pipeline and compression facilities in Wyoming and Utah.

With construction still ongoing Friday on three of its four major transmission upgrades that will collectively add 375 MMcf/d of capacity on its transmission pipeline system, Southern California Gas Co., Los Angeles, acknowledged its modified implementation plan for its in-state pipeline/storage restructuring will be on track by the fall when crunch time comes. Even so, the detailed steps outlined in a filing with state regulators last month indicated that there will be implementation continuing through next year to fully integrate all parts of what is called the “comprehensive settlement agreement” between the gas utility and its major customer/stakeholders.

Less than three weeks after receiving a certificate for the project, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has given Kern River Gas Transmission a green light to begin constructing some of its 2003 Expansion pipeline and compression facilities in Wyoming and Utah.

Transco completed construction work at Station 35 and station capacity was nearly back to normal as of Friday afternoon, a spokeswoman said. The project, which was causing an allocation bottleneck at downstream Station 40, began in May and was originally scheduled to end July 1 but got delayed (see Daily GPI, July 23). There will be additional commissioning outages in coming weeks that will restrict Station 40 capacity temporarily, but most will be only one day long, the spokeswoman said.

Bakersfield, CA-based Tri-Valley Oil & Gas Co., a subsidiary of Tri-Valley Corp., said last week that it is beginning operations to drill the Sunrise-Mayel No. 2 test well nearby Delano, CA, in its continuing plans to pursue what it believes may be the second largest natural gas field ever found on the West Coast. In April 2001, the company labeled its Sunrise Natural Gas Project as possibly “one of the largest onshore finds in more than half a century,” (see NGI, April 16, 2001).