Having

NOVA returned to its normal +10/-10% tolerance range for dailyimbalances Friday after having changed the range to +2/-18%Wednesday. The two-day change was made in order to reduce linepackto target levels, which was necessary before proceeding withmaintenance on Schrader Creek Compressor Station, NOVA said.

After years of having been plagued by low prices relative to theHenry Hub, Rocky Mountain producers appear to be well positioned tohelp meet the projected 30 Tcf gas market. Even when Canada isconsidered, less gas has been drawn from Rockies basins on apercentage of projected reserves basis than from other NorthAmerican producing regions, noted Thomas A. Petrie of PetrieParkman & Co.

For the first time in July Pacific Gas & Electric entered aweekend without having a high-inventory OFO in place. One that hadbeen declared for Friday (see Daily GPI, July 23) was not extended.However, Southern California Gas did implement an OFO-likeOvernominations Day for Saturday.

FERC sent one major Midwest-to-Northeast pipeline project backto the drawing board last week but gave another competing project afinal green light. The $447 million Vector Pipeline emergedvictorious, receiving FERC’s final approval and a presidentialpermit in a draft order, while the $400 million TriState Pipelinewas told it must redesign the pipeline-lease portion of itsproposal to get FERC’s rubber stamp.

Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson last week accusedOklahoma Corporation Commissioners of having improper discussionswith ONG during recent settlement negotiations and has asked eachcommissioner to recuse him/herself from the proceedings if suchdiscussions indeed happened. None of the three commissioners agreedto do so.

The Amoco processing plant serving Destin Pipeline is havingproblems with its liquids handling facility, reducing the handlingcapacity by 50% as of Monday, according to the Destin bulletinboard. Amoco estimates the reduction will last about a month. Thereis enough remaining capacity to process current daily liquidsvolumes, according to Destin, but if those volumes increase beyondAmoco’s capabilities the pipeline “could be forced to take furtheraction should the quality of the gas not meet market requirements.”

Just as Wednesday was an unusual day in having East and Westmarkets rising in tandem, the two regions joined again Friday inmoving in the same direction-only this time the direction was down,way down. Decreases of less than a dime were few, and San JuanBasin plumbed depths not seen in a long time by falling a quarterto the $1.50 area. The Permian Basin and Waha plunged by 20 centsor more.

Despite already having held a series of hearings on the project,FERC yesterday set for hearing the issue of whether the market needfor a controversial liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility plannedfor a Maine community could be better met by alternative pipelineprojects.

Nautilus Pipeline offshore southeast Louisiana reported havingto shut down Sunday evening until further notice due to a largeslug of liquids being handled at the slug catcher. Nautilus toldshippers Monday they were released to flow to other systems “forthe next seven to 10 days.” Inquiries about the line’s recentvolumes were not answered Tuesday.