Mainline

Pipeline companies will have to build at least 4.4 Bcf/d to 5.6 Bcf/d of new mainline facilities next year just to accommodate the 50,000 MW of gas-fired power generation capacity that is expected to come on-line in the United States during 2002, according to a report issued by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

El Paso revised its schedule for North Mainline capacity reductions caused by continuing outages of Window Rock Station’s 5A and 6B units along with work on Line 1200 between Williams and Seligman Stations, Navajo Station inspections ordered by the federal Department of Transportation, and Leupp C and D Station modifications. The new dates and volume cuts (in MMcf/d) through the rest of this month are: Sept. 18-19, 150; Sept. 20, 300; Sept. 21-23, 55; Sept. 24-25, 65; Sept. 26-27, 170; and Sept. 28-30, 155. El Paso also postponed Line 1300 pigging between the Roswell and Caprock stations until Sept. 25-28, when San Juan Crossover capacity will be reduced by 50 MMcf/d.

CIG declared force majure late Friday afternoon at its mainlineRawlins Compressor Station in Carbon County, WY after a compressorengine experienced problems and had to be taken out of service. CIGanticipates having the unit back in service by the April 7 gas day.There was no impact on scheduled services, a spokesman said Monday.

El Paso said it would complete cleaning of Line 1103 on itsSouth Mainline Friday, and will conduct its smart pigging projecttoday, Wednesday and Thursday. The reduction in capacity fromKeystone Station to Pecos River Station will be only 100 MMcf/dtoday, but will rise Wednesday and Thursday to the previouslyannounced 335 MMcf/d (see Daily GPI, March 15). Maintenance atCornudas B and Hueco will continue during this time, El Paso said,causing varying day-by-day allocations in Pecos and Waha Westcapacity. See the bulletin board for details.

Transwestern extended through at least Saturday the force majeureassociated with a freight train derailment near its mainline innorthwest new Mexico (see Daily GPI, Nov. 2). The derailed cars have beenremoved but harsh weather delayed the start of pipe inspection untilFriday, a spokeswoman said. Crews were hoping to restore servicebetween Stations 5 and 6 Sunday, she said. A capacity constraintremained in effect going into the weekend, but it had been reducedfrom 400,000 MMBtu/d to 300,000 MMBtu/d.

Transwestern declared force majeure after a freight trainderailed near its mainline in northwest New Mexico. The derailmentoccurred Sunday afternoon but the pipeline did not learn about ituntil Monday morning, according to a spokeswoman. As a precaution,Transwestern immediately took the line out of service betweenStations 5 (Thoreau) and 6 (Laguna). Westbound deliveries from theEast of Thoreau area and eastbound deliveries from San Juan Basinhave been suspended until further notice, affecting about 400,000MMBtu/d, the pipeline said. The line will be inspected and returnedto service once the train cars have been removed, which wasexpected to be completed by late Tuesday afternoon.

Florida Gas Transmission said Wednesday morning a small leak in its22-inch mainline in southeastern Texas (see Daily GPI, Oct. 4) had been repaired and the line wasback in service. The pipeline resumed accepting nominations at allpoints in Zone 1 for Wednesday’s Intraday 1 cycle.

Florida Gas Transmission discovered a leak on its 22-inchmainline downstream of Station 4 (Matagorda County, TX) betweenvalves 4-7 and 4-5 (west of Galveston Bay). That section was beingisolated and its pressure reduced. As of Tuesday afternoon,estimated downtime was 24-36 hours. FGT was keeping shippers wholeTuesday and trying to re-route as much affected gas as possible, aspokeswoman said, but for today’s gas day there will be no flow at15 receipt points and two delivery points.

The section of the El Paso Natural Gas South Mainline systemthat failed last weekend, killing 11 people and critically injuringone, had not been “properly inspected” in the 48 years since it wasfirst installed, said the chairman of the National TransportationSafety Board (NTSB) Thursday.