Kern

PG&E said due to pipe replacement maintenance on the Baja path, the 300 MMcf/d Daggett interconnect with Kern River Gas Transmission (KRGT) will be shut in for 20 days starting June 10. No nominations will be processed for the KRGT Receipt/Delivery Points for gas days June 10 – 30. Any nominations already submitted through INSIDEtracc will be cut to zero for this time frame, PG&E said. For further details, call (800) 343-4743.

Citing “excessive banking [of gas] over the last several days,” Kern River said Tuesday it is currently operating with high linepack that would negatively impact maintenance set for April 24-25. “It is imperative that operators take delivery of quantities that are scheduled immediately,” the pipeline said, adding that it will take corrective action if banking continues to be a problem. The maintenance, involving turbine inspections at the Muddy Creek and Fillmore Stations and valve replacement at the Opal Plant, was postponed from an original March schedule (see Daily GPI, March 9).

Kern River expects its receipts to be “slightly impacted” asAmoco’s Painter Plant near Evanston, WY performs maintenance thatwas to begin Sunday and continue through next Sunday.

Tri-Valley Corp.’s “Project Ekho” exploration program in KernCounty, CA, reached its final depth of 19,100 feet Wednesday.Project backers now begin a 30- to 60-day period of self-imposedsilence to review drilling logs and records before continuing todevelop significant new supplies of oil and gas at thesub-15,000-foot levels in the extensively drilled central SanJoaquin Valley.

Kern River is accepting bids through this afternoon in an openseason for summer firm capacity from May 1 through Nov. 30. Theavailable space will vary by month, ranging from lows of 25 MMcf/din August and November to a high of 53 MMcf/d in May. The pipelinewill consider fixed-price and indexed bids. Call Jeff Leishman at(801) 584-6682 or Dave Stevens at -7101 for more information.

Effective today, Kern River will lift all restrictions on firmservice that had resulted from this week’s Muddy Creek maintenance.IT service will resume as scheduled Saturday.

Western Gas Resources has joined the Fort Union Gas GatheringPartnership formed to deliver 450 MMcf/d or more of coal-bedmethane from the Powder River Basin by the end of next year.