Mexico

While Energy Secretary Bill Richardson was visiting Venezuelaand Mexico last week, DOE issued a list of 20 new appointments hehas made at the agency, which are in addition to the seven alreadyannounced in his six weeks on the job.

Texas Eastern Transmission (Tetco) announced plans to expand itsMain Pass system in the Gulf of Mexico and lease the new expansioncapacity to Dauphin Island Gathering Partners (DIGP). The projectwill provide Tetco customers with access new supply sources andwould give DIGP additional capacity it needs to serve itscustomers, said Tetco President Bobby Evans.

Hurricane Georges roared through a deserted eastern Gulf of Mexico today, the fifth of what has been an alphabet soup of named storms to hit in four of the last five weeks, once again sending producers scurrying for shore, shutting in production or putting wells on automatic pilot.

Hurricane Georges took aim at the Gulf of Mexico Friday afterpassing the southern tip of Florida, and producers and pipelineswere responding. The pace of platform evacuations and productionshut-ins accelerated rapidly following tentative starts in theMobile Bay area Thursday. Evacuation reports extended as far westas the West Cameron area off southwest Louisiana. As of late Fridayafternoon a hurricane watch was in effect from Morgan City, LA, toSt. Marks, FL.

Hurricane Georges continued along a path yesterday that revealeda stunning possibility that the Gulf of Mexico could be paid afifth unwelcome visit by a named storm this hurricane season,making 1998 one of the most active in recent memory. And therestill are more than two entire months left for mother nature tobrew up even more trouble. Two more tropical storms are growing inintensity right behind Georges.

Noticing continued futures strength and a growing threat of newstorm shut-ins in the Gulf of Mexico, cash prices built onTuesday’s gains with even bigger ones Wednesday. Increases oneither side of 20 cents were common at nearly all points. TheCalifornia market, far removed from Gulf storm influence, sawsmaller gains of about a dime, although a Malin rise of 13 centsnearly fulfilled one source’s prediction of up 20 cents there (seeDaily GPI, Sept. 16) based on Tuesday’s intra-Alberta pricestrength.

The yet-to-be-completed Destin Pipeline is growing with plansfor two extensions to its system in the eastern Gulf of Mexicoproduction area. Destin Pipeline Co. announced two contiguousextensions, with a total estimated cost of $52 million, will servetwo development projects that recently dedicated production tothe1 Bcf/d Destin.

Puzzling out what lies where in the Gulf of Mexico will beeasier with the availability of digital coordinate data for all ofthe Gulf’s gas and oil pipelines. The U.S. Department of theInterior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) has introduced anautomated pipeline mapping system that covers 20,000 miles ofpipelines in federal waters.

The first phase of the Dauphin Island Gathering System (DIGS)expansion was put in service last week, making it the first easternGulf of Mexico pipeline to transport deep-water production toonshore facilities in Alabama. When complemented by the secondphase of its expansion, DIGS – a project of the Dauphin IslandGathering Partners (DIGP) – will have the capability to deliver upto 1.1 Bcf/d to onshore markets and pipelines in south Alabama andsouth Louisiana. The system will have hub platform capabilities atmultiple locations on the Outer Continental Shelf and in deep-waterareas. It is expandable with the addition of compression.