Operation

Just days after Southeast Supply Header LLC (SESH) placed 213 miles of its 270-mile pipeline into operation, FERC last Tuesday gave the company the green light to put the remaining 53 miles of the line in service. The pipeline will provide Texas, Louisiana and other producers with an outlet to Southeast and Northeast natural gas markets.

Just days after Southeast Supply Header LLC (SESH) placed 213 miles of its 270-mile pipeline into operation, FERC Tuesday gave the company the green light to put the remaining 53 miles of the line in service. The pipeline will provide Texas, Louisiana and other producers with an outlet to Southeast and Northeast natural gas markets.

FERC issued a draft order Wednesday granting a certificate for development and operation of the $750 million Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Cameron Parish, LA. With a proposed peak sendout of 2.6 Bcf/d of regasified LNG, Cheniere LNG’s Sabine Pass terminal will be the largest of the three proposed and four existing U.S. LNG terminals with FERC certificates.

FERC Friday issued a certificate to Enstor Houston Hub Storage and Transportation LP authorizing the construction and operation of a salt dome natural gas storage facility and associated pipeline facilities in Liberty County, TX.

FERC last Thursday issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) that outlines several potential reforms to improve the competitive operation of the organized wholesale power markets.

The Department of Transportation’s (DOT) agency overseeing pipeline safety allowed the bulk of the western portion of the Rockies Express Pipeline (REX), known as REX-West, to go into operation last month despite certain concerns related to welds on the system, according to documents filed at FERC.

The Department of Transportation’s (DOT) agency overseeing pipeline safety allowed the bulk of the western portion of the Rockies Express Pipeline (REX), known as REX-West, to go into operation earlier this month despite certain concerns related to welds on the system, according to documents filed at FERC.

Cheyenne Plains said late Tuesday it was continuing its free flow operation “as well as removing delivery point constraints as downstream delivery point operators agree to accept off-spec gas from Cheyenne Plains.” Effective with Cycle 2 nominations for Wednesday’s gas day, receipts from WIC at the Curly and Thunder Chief interconnects and from CIG at the Red Cloud interconnect were again possible at their normal capacity, Cheyenne Plains said, explaining that the leaking valve on its system that had previously prevented receipts from WIC and CIG had been returned to service. See the bulletin board for a list of delivery point operators that have agreed to waive their carbon dioxide (CO2) gas quality requirements and to accept gas that contains up to 3% CO2, along with allowable point-specific volumes. In another posting, Cheyenne Plains said that while an investigation of Sunday’s Cheyenne Plains Compressor Station fire (see Daily GPI, Sept. 18) is still under way, “we believe the fire resulted from the release and subsequent ignition of gas when the flange connections associated with a relief valve on the suction side of the Cheyenne Plains compression failed. When the fire was detected, all compression in the Cheyenne yard was shut down, including that serving Colorado Interstate Gas Company (CIG) and Wyoming Interstate Company, Ltd. (WIC). Subsequently, the compression facilities serving CIG and WIC were able to return to service. Although damage assessments of the Cheyenne Plains facilities are continuing, it is clear that a significant amount of instrumentation and electrical wiring was damaged in the fire and will need to be replaced. This includes most of the cable trays and associated electrical wiring. Some nearby yard piping and valves appear to need replacement as well.”

While the Mexican national oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) worked to bring its major natural gas supply pipelines back into operation last week following major explosions carried out by terrorists on its natural gas and oil pipelines, analysts in the United State said that despite the limited connections to the affected region in Mexico, the blasts early last Monday initially had a psychological impact on the U.S. natural gas market.