Downstream

Florida Gas Transmission discovered a leak on its 22-inchmainline downstream of Station 4 (Matagorda County, TX) betweenvalves 4-7 and 4-5 (west of Galveston Bay). That section was beingisolated and its pressure reduced. As of Tuesday afternoon,estimated downtime was 24-36 hours. FGT was keeping shippers wholeTuesday and trying to re-route as much affected gas as possible, aspokeswoman said, but for today’s gas day there will be no flow at15 receipt points and two delivery points.

Houston-based Adams Resources & Energy, Inc. is expandingits natural gas business, setting up a downstream office inProvidence, RI to market to industrial and commercial customers.

Florida Gas Transmission has reduced the Maximum AllowableOperating Pressure (MAOP) of its 22-inch mainline downstream ofStation 4. As a result, capacity through Station 4 will drop to 160MMcf/d effective today. The pressure cut is in response to a linebreak last month near Station 4 (see Daily GPI, d20000623j.html”>June23), a spokesman said. FGT still had an Overage Alert Day noticeissued last Wednesday (see Daily GPI, July13) in effect Monday until further notice.

Union Gas Storage & Transportation Services is holding anopen season on long-term firm transportation for upstream,downstream and bundled options through Sept. 1. With the openseason results, Union Gas plans to request an expansion of itsoperations to the Ontario Energy Board later this year. All bidsand/or requests for services have to be received by 5 p.m. Sept. 1.Contact Scott Hubert at (519) 358-4012 for information.

Transwestern’s Bisti Compressor Station, located downstream ofthe Bloomfield Compressor Station on the San Juan lateral will bedown for unplanned maintenance Wednesday and Thursday. San JuanLateral Capacity will be approximately 700,000 MMBtu/d. Monitor thepipeline’s web site for updates.

Tennessee is reinstating service constraints downstream ofStation 325 (Libertyville, NJ) in Zones 5 and 6 (see Daily GPI,Dec. 21) effective today.

AES Corp., a major electric generation and distribution company, continued to shift its focus onto downstream operations by forming a new subsidiary, Power Direct, to compete for electricity and natural gas retail customers in U.S. markets. Power Direct already is licensed to sell electricity in New Jersey and anticipates the receipt of a license in Pennsylvania by the end of August. The company plans to begin marketing in those states in the near future.

AES Corp., a major electric generation and distribution company,continued to shift its focus onto downstream operations by forminga new subsidiary, Power Direct, to compete for electricity andnatural gas retail customers in U.S. markets, the company saidyesterday. Power Direct is already licensed to sell electricity inNew Jersey and anticipates the receipt of a license in Pennsylvaniaby the end of August. The company plans to begin marketing in thosestates in the near future.

Merger fever swept through the downstream sector of the energy industry last week with four new combinations announced and three others approved by FERC. It was one of the hottest weeks yet for corporate marriages and many observers still believe it’s only the beginning.