Maritimes

CIG has taken one unit at Table Rock (WY) Compressor Station out of service through June 23, reducing station capacity from 30 MMcf/d to 8 MMcf/d.

Maritimes & Northeast (M&N) deliveries into Tennessee at Dracut, MA were cut to zero for the gas days of Thursday and Friday and presumably will remain that way into the weekend due to processing problems at the Goldboro Gas Plant in Halifax, NS. Alan Jeffers of ExxonMobil Canada, the operator of Sable Offshore Energy Project (SOEP), said SOEP supplies into M&N had been reduced about 40% to 245 MMcf/d (from 400 MMcf/d normally). “Goldboro hopes to have the problem resolved in the next several days,” Jeffers said. A Northeast marketer said he understood Goldboro was having problems with its glycol processes, but Jeffers was unable to confirm that.

TransCanada reported being issued a declararation of force majeure for Sunday’s gas day by TransQuebec & Maritimes (TQM) due to a compressor failure at TQM Station #650 (Lachenaie) and unstable compressor operation at TQM Station #654 (East Hereford). East Hereford operated more favorably Monday than first anticipated, so TransCanada said it would consider small increases in deliveries there Tuesday and did not expect to restrict any service Wednesday, assuring operational conditions and nomination levels don’t change. Efforts to restore operation at Lachenaie continued Tuesday, but the expected duration of that outage was still unknown, TransCanada said.

The TransQuebec & Maritimes (TQM) unit of TransCanada declared a force majeure to the parent pipeline company effective for the Sept. 3 gas day due to a compressor failure at TQM’s East Hereford Station in Quebec near the New Hampshire border. As a result, TransCanada said Thursday it has issued its own force majeure declaration to firm shippers delivering to East Hereford “in the unlikely event that firm curtailments will be required.” TransCanada added that it does not anticipate any restrictions of firm service to East Hereford unless operational conditions or nomination levels change substantially. Discretionary service restrictions, including diversions, to East Hereford may be necessary, TransCanada said. The expected duration of the outage is unknown, it said.

TransCanada brought the Lachenaie Compressor Station on its TransQuebec & Maritimes system back online at 3 p.m. EST Wednesday and said a curtailment of all discretionary services (including diversions) to East Hereford, PQ would be lifted with the day’s intraday 2 nominations cycle. Lachenaie, about 45 kilometers north of Montreal, experienced an unexpected shutdown Tuesday morning. Preliminary investigations have indicated an electrical ground fault to be the root cause of the outage, the pipeline said. For Thursday, no curtailments are expected for deliveries to East Hereford. However, no increases in nominations to East Hereford will be authorized to ensure sufficient recovery of line pack and pressures in the affected area, TransCanada said.

Canada’s National Energy Board has received an application from Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline Management Ltd. to approve final tolls from Test Period 2001, which runs October 2000 through Dec. 31, 2001, and for Test Period 2002, which runs from Jan. 1, 2002 through Dec. 31, 2002. M&NP has been operating on interim tolls approved by the NEB since Oct. 1, 2000.

Canada’s National Energy Board has received an application from Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline Management Ltd. to approve final tolls from Test Period 2001, which runs October 2000 through Dec. 31, 2001, and for Test Period 2002, which runs from Jan. 1, 2002 through Dec. 31, 2002. M&NP has been operating on interim tolls approved by the NEB since Oct. 1, 2000.

Unplanned maintenance at the SOE (Sable Offshore Energy) GasPlant has caused physical supply into Maritimes & Northeast todecrease temporarily, the pipeline said. Due to this, shippers areexpected to match physical volumes to nominated receipts, it added.However, the reduced throughputs have allowed M&N to lift ITrestrictions at the Baileyville (ME) Compressor Station.

Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline has completed constructionand commissioning of the Halifax Lateral, which is ready to delivergas to Nova Scotia Power Tufts Cove Generating Station and willcommence service today. The 77-mile, 12-inch diameter pipelineextends from a point on the mainline near Stellarton to the Tuftsplant in Dartmouth. There are two firm service agreements in placewith Nova Scotia Power for a total of 61,600 MMBtu/day.Construction of the Saint John Lateral also is nearly complete.When the pipeline receives a leave-to-open from the National EnergyBoard, commissioning activities will begin. The lateral is onschedule for service in late November. Facilities for the SaintJohn Lateral consist of 63 miles of 16-inch diameter pipeline froma point near Kedron Lake to delivery points in the Saint John andLake Utopia areas in New Brunswick. The Saint John lateral isdesigned to transport 164,000 MMBtu/d of gas. M&NP also said ithas received approval from the NEB to build facilities to serveEnbridge Gas New Brunswick’s distribution system in eastern,western and southern Saint John. The northern facilities are onhold.