Knocks

The gas cash market Tuesday shrugged off the impact of Claudette for a second day, anticipating the rapid return of about 2.54 Bcf/d of shut-in gas production possibly as soon as Wednesday morning, as well as another large weekly storage injection on Thursday and continued mild temperatures and weak cooling demand for the rest of the week.

The Nova Scotia government’s decision to not allow high-pressure natural gas pipelines under the shoulders of provincial highways is forcing Sempra Atlantic Gas to re-examine its business plan for the province. Earlier this month, Sempra Atlantic Gas released a 36-page report detailing the benefits it was bringing to the region, which last year totaled C$17.3 million.

The Nova Scotia government’s decision to not allow high-pressure natural gas pipelines under the shoulders of provincial highways is forcing Sempra Atlantic Gas to re-examine its business plan for the province. Earlier this month, Sempra Atlantic Gas released a 36-page report detailing the benefits it was bringing to the region, which last year totaled C$17.3 million (see Daily GPI, April 2).

Yesterday was not a good time to walk away from your futurespositions to enjoy the Indian Summer weather. Just one week ago,near-month futures hit a record high at $5.78, but by the close ofregular trading yesterday, the November contract had settled belowthe psychologically important level of $5 for the first time sinceSept. 8.

A very divided FERC last week dealt a potentially crippling blowto the controversial Independence Pipeline and associatedSupplyLink and MarketLink expansion projects, requiring them toshow documented proof of binding, long-term contracts for more thantwo-thirds of their project’s firm capacity before they can beginconstruction, as well as to satisfy more than 100 environmentalconditions. The Commission dismissed a major affiliate contract,casting doubt on the market support for the eastward-boundIndependence and SupplyLink projects.

A very divided FERC yesterday dealt a major blow to thecontroversial Independence Pipeline and associated SupplyLinkexpansion projects, requiring each to submit long-term firmcontracts for about 70% of capacity before they can beginconstruction, as well as to satisfy more than 100 environmentalconditions.