Dracut

In a series of filings at FERC, residents of Dracut, MA, and the town’s Board of Selectmen say they oppose Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co.’s (TGP) Northeast Energy Direct Project (NED), which would bring Marcellus Shale natural gas to utilities and power generators in New England.

Flat numbers at Tennessee Zone 6 and the PG&E citygate and about a nickel loss at Dracut were the only exceptions to fairly strong price gains Wednesday everywhere else in the market. Temperatures were staying fairly mild across the southern third of the United States, but with lows in the 30s and 40s forecast for Thursday north of there into Canada, it was obvious that heating demand is starting to play an increasing role in the gas price equation.

Maritimes & Northeast (M&N) deliveries into Tennessee at Dracut, MA were cut to zero for the gas days of Thursday and Friday and presumably will remain that way into the weekend due to processing problems at the Goldboro Gas Plant in Halifax, NS. Alan Jeffers of ExxonMobil Canada, the operator of Sable Offshore Energy Project (SOEP), said SOEP supplies into M&N had been reduced about 40% to 245 MMcf/d (from 400 MMcf/d normally). “Goldboro hopes to have the problem resolved in the next several days,” Jeffers said. A Northeast marketer said he understood Goldboro was having problems with its glycol processes, but Jeffers was unable to confirm that.