Fire

While the Carolinas are known for warm breezes and friendly folks, a pipeline proposed for the two states is getting a very cold shoulder from competitors.

As industry replies to FERC’s data requests on the June pricespikes in the power market began to pour in yesterday, critics insome electricity circles said that the questions posed by theCommission were too little, too late to elicit any meaningfulinformation into the causes for the price run-up earlier thissummer in the Midwest.

A proposal of Trunkline Gas to sell one third of its mainlinegas system – about 720 miles – to an affiliate for transportationof ethane and other hydrocarbons came under heavy attack at FERCfrom the pipeline’s shippers this week.

All the gas flowing to the Florida peninsula was cut off overthe weekend after a lightning strike Friday afternoon caused a fireand pipe rupture at Florida Gas Transmission’s Station 15 nearPerry, FL, and knocked out all downstream service. The 24-inch,30-inch and 36-inch mainlines that converge in the station yardwere affected.

Hot weather in the producing states of Louisiana and Texas,along with the futures screen’s rising example, set the tone forcash price hikes of 2-3 cents to almost a dime Monday. One tradersaid supplies seemed a bit tight in the Gulf Coast and Midcontinentfor some reason, allowing that it might have been southern coolingdemand soaking up available gas.

The apparent success of the Alliance Pipeline Project islighting a fire under government and industry plans to build upnatural gas production behind its starting point, in northeasternBritish Columbia, into a mainstay of supplies for markets east ofthe Rocky Mountains.

Natural Gas Clearinghouse’s (NGC) controversial transportationcontracts for 1.3 Bcf/d with El Paso Natural Gas came under fireagain last week as producers and marketers hammered away at thealleged anticompetitive nature of the firm agreements.