Field

Kern River reported being informed by affiliate Williams Field Services that Opal Plant was experiencing gas quality issues involving high water content at the tailgate. WFS was cutting Opal nominations in the Intraday 2 process Monday. The plant dropped 85 MMcf Monday from its normal throughput of about 740 MMcf/d, a WFS spokesman said, but the situation was improving Tuesday and any further loss was expected to be minimal.

It’s too soon to tell whether Dynegy Corp.’s proposed merger with Enron Corp. will be approved by federal regulators, but the most critical problem may not be how big the two companies’ trading power will be, but how much Enron’s shrinks over the next few months, noted analysts on Thursday. If Enron regains and retains the number one position it held just weeks ago, federal approval may be questionable; if Enron’s market share is diluted, the merger may stand a better chance of succeeding.

California’s second merchant underground natural gas storage project near Sacramento began injecting supplies this month, but its commercial start-up date has been pushed back to Dec. 1, according to the California operations manager for Houston-based Western Hub Properties LLC, the developer.

Moving in on an already crowded Mid-Atlantic field, Williams’ Transco Pipeline announced it is soliciting interest for a capacity expansion in its Zone 5, to run from Station 165 in Pittsylvania County, VA to Hertford County, NC.

Duke Energy Field Services (DEFS) grabbed itself a much larger piece of the natural gas midstream segment in the Gulf of Mexico this week as the company announced that it has purchased the former MCN Investment Corp.’s ownership interest in Dauphin Island Gathering Partners (DIGP), Mobile Bay Processing Partners (MBPP) and Gulf Coast NGL Pipeline, LLC (Gulf Coast). Terms of the transaction, which closed on July 11, were not disclosed.

Due to the strong upcycle in worldwide natural gas exploration and production, drilling contractors and oil field service companies are reaping the benefits and padding their 2001 earnings significantly. Even though every surge has its limit, the recovery of the industry and the “corresponding financial improvements” when compared to late 1998 and 1999 will be sustainable for “at least the next 18-24 months,” according to Fitch IBCA, Duff & Phelps.

Due to the strong upcycle in worldwide natural gas exploration and production, drilling contractors and oil field service companies are reaping the benefits and padding their 2001 earnings significantly. Even though every surge has its limit, the recovery of the industry and the “corresponding financial improvements” when compared to late 1998 and 1999 will be sustainable for “at least the next 18-24 months,” according to Fitch IBCA, Duff & Phelps.

Unless there is a “major breakthrough in the Lower 48” in the next five years, Houston-based Apache Corp.’s COO sees its energy future outside of the United States, most likely in Canada, Egypt and Australia. F. Steven Farris also told Banc of America Securities Conference attendees that Apache plans to soon sell $250 million in assets, mostly related to a recent Canadian acquisition.

Reporting that its Washington Ranch Storage Field was experiencing maximum withdrawals, El Paso declared an Unauthorized Overpull Penalty situation Tuesday. It urged shippers to review their supply/demand balances and the performance of their suppliers to insure that sufficient gas is delivered to El Paso to cover the gas being taken off-system. The pipeline said it will limit scheduled volumes at underperforming interconnects.