FirstEnergy Corp. has canceled the $1.5 billion sale of four predominantly coal-fired power plants (2,535 MW) located along Lake Erie in Ohio to NRG Energy in anticipation of a breach of the sale agreement by NRG. FirstEnergy notified NRG, which is struggling through a financial crisis due to credit downgrades, and its NRG Able Acquisition LLC affiliate on Thursday that the agreements have been canceled and that FirstEnergy has reserved its right to pursue legal action against the companies.
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Transportation Notes
CIG declared a force majeure condition Friday at its Elk Basin Compressor Station located on the Wind River Lateral in Park County, WY. A compressor engine had to be taken out of service for repairs. CIG estimates that the outage will last at least 30 days. It anticipates being able to flow 47,000 Dth/d through the station, but said any impact to service will depend on any given day’s nominations.
Duke Opens New D-J Basin Processing Plant
Duke Energy Field Services (DEFS) said it has placed its new Platteville natural gas processing plant, located northeast of Denver, into service. It will have an initial capacity of 33 MMcf/d and is expandable to 50 MMcf/d with additional inlet compression. The plant will facilitate additional oil and gas production growth in the Denver-Julesburg (D-J) Basin from DEFS customers.
Transportation Notes
Tennessee reported experiencing unanticipated delays in completing necessary pipeline modifications at the Yscloskey Gas Processing Plant, located near Main Line Valve 529 in southeast Louisiana. This delay does not impact available capacity on the 500 Line, Tennessee said, but the Eloi Bay meter will stay out of service until the modifications are finished. The pipeline anticipated being able to resume partial Yscloskey deliveries Thursday, and expects the plant to be processing about 600 MMcf/d around Sunday. It also hopes to complete the pipe modifications late Sunday, upon which full deliveries to Yscloskey for processing will resume and the Eloi Bay meter will return to service.
Transportation Notes
Tennessee reported experiencing unanticipated delays in completing necessary pipeline modifications at the Yscloskey Gas Processing Plant, located near Main Line Valve 529 in southeast Louisiana. This delay does not impact available capacity on the 500 Line, Tennessee said, but the Eloi Bay meter will stay out of service until the modifications are finished. On or about today, the pipeline anticipates being able to resume partial Yscloskey deliveries, and expects the plant to be processing about 600 MMcf/d around Sunday. It also hopes to complete the pipe modifications latee Sunday, upon which full deliveries to Yscloskey for processing will resume and the Eloi Bay meter will return to service.
Transportation Notes
Tennessee will perform pipeline modifications Oct. 14-24 to the 500 Line at the Yscloskey Gas Processing Plant, located near Main Line Valve 529 in southeast Louisiana. The work will not impact available capacity on the 500 Line, but the Eloi Bay meter will be out of service during the entire period. In addition, Tennessee will be unable to deliver gas to Yscloskey for processing starting Oct. 14. On or about Oct. 18, Tennessee anticipates resuming deliveries of about 600 MMcf/d to Yscloskey, with full deliveries due again after Oct. 24.
Industry Brief
Houston-based Spinnaker Exploration Co. said it had a significant discovery of natural gas and condensate at its Stirrup Prospect, located on Mustang Island Block 861 off the Texas Gulf Coast. The Mustang Island 861 #1 was drilled to a depth of 17,123 feet, tested middle Frio sands and established the geologically oldest production on the shelf of the Gulf and west of the Mississippi River, Spinnaker said. The discovery is 25 miles south of Corpus Christi, TX in about 54 feet of water. The #1 found gas-bearing sands in four major sequences. Three of the sequences have tested gas and the fourth was not tested. The S-3 sand has tested at rates of approximately 21.1 MMcf/d with 130 bbl of condensate at flowing pressures exceeding 11,000 psi. Spinnaker said the gas quality is excellent, and the well has been shut-in pending design and fabrication of a production platform, related facilities and flow line. Spinnaker operates the Stirrup Prospect with a 42% working interest and a 34% net revenue interest. Partners include Dominion Exploration & Production Inc. and Pioneer Natural Resources Co.
Industry Briefs
FPL Energy LLC, a subsidiary of FPL Group Inc. announced that it will construct a 517 MW gas-fired power plant in Blythe, CA. Located 200 miles east of Los Angeles, FPL said the new plant will be one of the largest independent power generation projects in the state. Electricity generated at the Blythe plant will have the capacity to power more than 500,000 homes will be sold in the state’s wholesale market. Given the plant’s proximity to Arizona and Nevada, its power could be sold into those adjacent markets as conditions warrant. Construction of the combined-cycle facility began in May and the plant is expected to begin commercial operation in early 2003. “We are pleased to do our part in helping to alleviate the power shortfall in California by providing efficient, clean energy from this new plant,” said Lew Hay, FPL Group CEO. “The Blythe plant complements quite well our existing power generation portfolio in the region.” Participating in the project will be Caithness Energy LLC, the original developer of the project.
Industry Briefs
AES NewEnergy has been selected by Lockheed Martin Corp. as Lockheed’s supplier for its Middle River facility located in Baltimore. The 10-month contract to serve the facility’s full electricity requirements will start next month and AES NewEnergy is also working with Lockheed to reduce its energy costs while enhancing the PJM Interconnection’s reliability under AES NewEnergy’s voluntary ISO profit program. “Lockheed Martin is a nationally recognized leader in their industry, and we look forward to partnering with them to control their energy costs,” said Edward Toppi, vice-president of AES NewEnergy, which is a subsidiary of AES Corp.
FERC Okays Transfer of CMS Trunkline Gathering
CMS Trunkline Gas Co. has received FERC approval to abandon offshore facilities and facilities located in Texas and Louisiana, transferring them to its gathering affiliate, CMS Trunkline Field Services (CP97-83). A companion order voted out by the Commission at its regular meeting last Wednesday designated those facilities as gathering, rendering them exempt from the Commission’s jurisdiction under the Natural Gas Act (CP97-84).