Deliverability

The Desert Crossing Gas Storage and Transportation System announced an open season beginning Thursday and extending through Feb. 8 for its 10 Bcf, high-deliverability natural gas storage complex and pipeline running through parts of Arizona and Nevada just east of Topock, AZ. The 800 MMcf/d pipeline will span roughly 300 miles from outside of Las Vegas to southwestern Arizona, connecting the storage complex with Kern River, Transwestern, and El Paso Natural Gas.

Energy East Enterprises (EEE) subsidiary Seneca Lake Storage, Inc. (SLSI) has filed plans with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a high-deliverability natural gas storage facility in depleted salt caverns in the Town of Reading, NY. Energy East Enterprises is a unit of Energy East Corp.

Energy East Enterprises (EEE) subsidiary Seneca Lake Storage, Inc. (SLSI) has filed plans with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a high-deliverability natural gas storage facility in depleted salt caverns in the Town of Reading, NY. Energy East Enterprises is a unit of Energy East Corp.

Aquila is beefing up is high deliverability gas storage holdingsin the Gulf Coast region in preparation for serving growinggas-fired power generation demand. The company bought rights to theproposed Houston Energy Center, a greenfield, natural gas saltcavern storage project being developed by SG Resources of Houston,Inc. The sale price was not disclosed.

Market Hub Partners LP (MHP) of Houston is holding an openseason for its Copiah high-deliverability salt cavern storageproject in Copiah County, MS, today through 3 p.m. CDT Friday, May26. The facility will have 3 Bcf of capacity available and willoffer 5- to 15-day withdrawal and 15- to 30-day injection services.Customers will be able to turn capacity up to 18 times per year.Initial services will be available April 2003.

While the sheer number of pending and projected natural gaspipeline projects may be staggering, that’s not what sets themapart from projects that preceded them. Rather, the distinguishingfactor is that they’re coming at a time when the “complexity andvolume” of environmental issues and the level of landowneranti-project sentiment have reached unparalleled heights, says atop FERC official.

EnergyUSA-TPC, a subsidiary of NiSource, is making good use ofits high deliverability storage expertise, signing on to managesupply for utilities and independent generators while a subsidiaryadds new storage facilities in the Northeast and Mississippi.

With the opening of expanded natural gas storage anddeliverability last week at jointly owned Jackson Prairie in thesouthwest part of Washington state, interstate pipelines likeWilliams’ Northwest and Kern River are trying to develop more andbetter services to gas-fired electric generation plants which areexpected to proliferate across the U.S. landscape in the early 21stCentury.

With the opening of expanded gas storage and deliverability thisweek at jointly-owned Jackson Prairie in southwest Washingtonstate, interstate pipelines like Williams Northwest are trying todevelop better services for electric generation plants, which areexpected to multiply significantly in the coming years.