Opal

Enterprise Products Partners LP said its affiliate, Enterprise Gas Processing LLC, has completed a $38 million purchase of the Pioneer silica gel natural gas processing plant located near Opal, WY, from Teppco Partners LP and has already started construction on an expansion project that will double the plant’s processing capacity to 600 MMcf/d later this year.

Kern River said Tuesday it was able to avoid “same day cuts” for shippers despite supply shortages that occurred at Opal and Anschutz during Monday’s gas day, but the combination of these shortages and the drafting that occurred that day resulted in a “very low” linepack level throughout its system. If linepack dropped further Tuesday, the pipeline said it may be necessary for it to physically prevent further drafting Wednesday and to impose mandatory payback (by physically limiting deliveries) to parties that drafted Tuesday. “Please ensure that your supplies are sufficient to cover all your deliveries,” Kern River concluded in a note to customers.

Kern River reported being informed by Opal Plant operator Williams Field Services that cuts were being made in the Intraday 1 nominations cycle for Friday’s gas day due to continuing high water content in production from Jonah Field upstream of the plant. The problem did not appear to be as severe as it was Thursday when Duke Energy Field Services, operator of the Jonah gathering system, notified the pipeline of cuts in Intraday 4 volumes, Kern River said; “however, if conditions worsen there is a possibility for further cuts in the ID2 [Friday’s Intraday 2] cycle and throughout the weekend. Please call your suppliers to see if a supply realignment is necessary.”

Total Opal Plant tailgate nominations to interconnecting pipelines (Northwest, Kern River and CIG) will be cut by 350,000-370,000 dekatherms today due to tie-in work being performed by the operator of the Jonah Field. In conjunction with the Jonah work, Williams Field Services has scheduled a tie-in to be completed by Thursday morning, but it is not expected to required any additional reductions in nominations.

The Rockies market rebounded Tuesday from Monday’s depths, with prices reported back in the $1.60s at Opal and a dime less on CIG, which had been in the $1.20s on Monday. However, few explanations were given. Weather there is still warmer than normal and is expected the stay that way in the short term.

Constraints will be minor today at the Opal (WY) processingplant as Williams Field Services begins testing and maintenance.But at least half of the plant’s current 540 MMcf/d activity willbe off the market Tuesday as the plant is shut down for 12 hours.Reductions June 17-24 will be about 75 MMcf/d.