Down

The Sable Offshore Energy Project has had to shut downproduction twice since starting operations Jan. 1. The firstincident occurred on Friday, Jan. 7, only a week after gas began toflow, when a sub-sea line started experiencing hydrate problems(essentially ice slug blockage). Then early last week the Sableprocessing plant onshore had to be evacuated because of a gas leakwarning. As of last Friday there was no prognosis on whenproduction would be restarted.

The Sable Offshore Energy Project had to shut down productiontwice since starting operations Jan. 1. The first incident occurredon Friday Jan. 7 only a week after gas began to flow when a subsealine started experiencing hydrate problems (essentially ice slugblockage). Then early last week the Sable processing plant onshorehad to be evacuated because of a gas leak warning. As of lastFriday there was no prognosis on when production would berestarted.

Kansas City Power & Light Co. (KCPL) threw down its bouquetlast week, canceling its proposed merger with the financiallytroubled Western Resources citing doubts about Western’s growth andincreasing shareholder opposition to the transaction. KCPL canceledthe merger using a stipulation in the original agreement requiringthe merger to have all regulatory approvals completed by Dec. 31,1999. The merger suffered from regulatory delays and never receiveda final okay from FERC.

The swing trading pattern immediately following Christmas didn’tseem very much different from the days preceding the holiday: agenerally softer market, with declines of up to a dime Monday atmost points, arrayed against conspicuously higher prices fordeliveries into the New York City area. One thing that did change,however, was generally flat numbers for the Rockies and California,markets that had participated in the overall weakness last week.

The electric unit at Reliant’s Buckley Compressor Station northof Shreveport, LA has shut down because of internal problems. Theoutage may last several weeks, a gas control staffer said; anupdate will be posted soon on the pipeline’s bulletin board.

Although FERC staff shot down the Atlantic Alliance projecttwice as an alternative to both Independence and Millennium, it didnot deter project planners from moving forward with an open season.

El Paso will take the Dutch Flat #1 turbine down for maintenanceDec. 20-22, reducing Havasu Crossover capacity by 40 MMcf/d.

The heat of July and Cinergy’s sweaty response to it mean EastCentral Area Reliability Coordination Agreement (ECAR) rules areabout to change to strongly discourage the unauthorized drawing ofpower from the system.

The heat of July and Cinergy’s sweaty response to it mean EastCentral Area Reliability Coordination Agreement (ECAR) rules areabout to change to strongly discourage the unauthorized drawing ofpower from the system.