Linepack

El Paso declared an Unauthorized Overpull Penalty situation late Tuesday afternoon, citing “low linepack, the unavailability of withdrawal capability at Washington Ranch storage facility and continued forecasted warm weather in our operating area.”

NOVA restored its imbalance tolerance range to the normal +4/-4 Tuesday, a day after shifting it to 0/-4 to discourage rising linepack.

A customer-specific OFO was declared for Tuesday by Pacific Gas & Electric, which projected that system linepack would fall below its minimum target level.

El Paso remained in an Unauthorized Overpull Penalty situation Friday due to low linepack and forecasts of cold weather in its operating area. The pipeline reported being “under withdrawal” at its Washington Ranch storage facility. Shippers were urged to review the performance of suppliers to insure that receipts were sufficient to cover deliveries. El Paso said it lacked the flexibility to offer paybacks or allow overpulls during the UOP period, which was declared Thursday. It added that markets will not be kept whole and limits will be placed on scheduled volumes at underperforming interconnects to insure system integrity.

Projecting that its linepack would be below minimum target levels through Friday, Pacific Gas & Electric issued a customer-specific OFO for Wednesday.

Despite projecting Thursday morning that linepack would be below its minimum target level Friday, Pacific Gas & Electric did not extend a low-inventory OFO beyond Thursday.

Although as of Thursday morning it was still projecting linepack volumes above its maximum target level for Friday and Saturday, Pacific Gas & Electric did not extend a high-inventory OFO beyond Thursday.

Citing high linepack on its system, Tennessee issued a Critical Period-Imbalances alert Friday. Excessive positive imbalances could jeopardize its operational integrity, the pipeline said. All LMS and SA contracts must be nominated and scheduled in balance to avoid the necessity of (1) adjusting receipts or deliveries; and/or 2) issuing a systemwide OFO, Tennessee said.

Northern Natural Gas declared a System Overrun Limitation for all market-area zones Saturday.