Operated

EnergyClear Corp. launched a new system Friday billed as the first industry-owned and operated over-the-counter (OTC) energy clearinghouse for clearance and settlement of OTC electricity and natural gas trades.

A maintenance shutdown of the Amerada Hess-operated Sea Robin Processing Plant, expected to last seven to 10 days, has been moved up three days and will begin Saturday. It previously had been scheduled to begin Sept. 17 (see Daily GPI, Aug. 29). The plant will continue dehydration operations during the outage, but Sea Robin Pipeline still anticipates that the heating value content of unprocessed gas deliveries will exceed the maximum limits set by downstream pipes Columbia Gulf and Sabine. Sea Robin said if it is notified by any other downstream pipeline that Sea Robin gas can no longer be accepted, shippers will be given as much notice as possible of the need to move their gas to other delivery points.

The Amerada Hess-operated Sea Robin Processing Plant will shut down Sept. 17 for maintenance expected to last seven to 10 days. The plant will continue dehydration operations during the outage. Sea Robin Pipeline estimates that the cutback in processing will cause its deliveries to downstream pipes Columbia Gulf and Sabine to exceed their maximum heating value requirements of 1,050 and 1,065 Btus per cubic foot respectively. Sea Robin Pipeline said that if it is notified by any other downstream pipeline operator that Sea Robin gas can no longer be accepted, it will provide as much notice as possible to shippers of the need to move their gas to other delivery points.

FERC at its Wednesday meeting issued Kern River a certificate to build its long-awaited 2003 expansion project, which would more than double the existing capacity of the Wyoming-to-California pipeline. Earlier in the month, a Kern River executive said that ongoing incremental expansion is all that is needed to supply natural gas demand in California and the surrounding area going forward.

Matagorda Offshore Pipeline System (MOPS), operated by Northern Natural Gas, shut down Platform 703 Monday for unplanned maintenance after a leak was detected on the 16-inch lateral near the platform. The Matagorda 703/704/709 receipt point was taken to zero flow until further notice, affecting 22,000 MMBtu/d.

Matagorda Offshore Pipeline System (MOPS), operated by Northern Natural Gas, shut down Platform 703 Monday for unplanned maintenance after a leak was detected on the 16-inch lateral near the platform. The Matagorda 703/704/709 receipt point was taken to zero flow until further notice, affecting 22,000 MMBtu/d.

El Paso Energy Partners LP (EPN) said it has signed three new contracts totaling 246 Bcf/year of firm transportation capacity on its EPGT Texas intrastate pipeline and gas storage services at its Wilson Storage facility. City Public Service of San Antonio bought five years of firm transportation and storage service beginning July 1; Devon Energy Corp. added five years of firm transportation service beginning Oct. 1; and MGI Supply Ltd., an affiliate of Pemex Gas, began contracting for month-to-month service at the EPGT Texas delivery point located at Penitas, TX, on the Mexico border last month.

The BP-operated Pascagoula (MS) Plant has informed Destin Pipeline that a full plant shutdown will be required Tuesday to replace a leaking upstream valve. The processing outage will begin at 9 a.m. CST and is expected to last no more than 12 hours. The Destin gas stream is rich enough that it must be processed to meet quality specs of downstream pipes, a spokesman said, so Destin operators will have to shut in during the plant work. Current throughput is down to about 500 MMcf/d because of some producer maintenance, so the plant outage will affect about 250 MMcf that day. An earlier Destin bulletin board posting had said the plant work was set for Monday, but it was decided early Thursday afternoon to wait until Tuesday in an effort to accommodate producer interests, the spokesman said.

Both Duke Energy-operated pipelines, Texas Eastern and Algonquin, issued Critical System Warnings Sunday saying that based on anticipated system operations and weather conditions, all customers were required to immediately “eliminate excess receipts and conform scheduled receipts to actual deliveries.” The warnings will remain in effect until further notice. Texas Eatern noted that with unseasonably mild weather in the market area and shippers filling contract storage inventories in anticipation of the heating season, its storage capacity is now about 98% full, leaving little system flexibility. If mitigating action isn’t taken, an OFO with non-compliance penalties of $25/Dth may become necessary, the pipeline said. Without specifically mentioning a potential OFO, Algonquin said it may adjust customer nominations and/or revise scheduled quantities to halt further accumulation of imbalances. “In addition, AGT may take any actions within its operational capabilities to reduce excess receipts,” it added. No due-pipe imbalance makeup is being accepted until further notice.