Parties

Due to anticipated colder temperatures and in order to maintain its linepack, Tennessee said an OFO Action Alert would take effect Saturday for all LMS-MA Balancing Parties with meters in Zones 5 and 6. Affected shippers are required to maintain an actual daily flow rate not exceeding 2% or 500 Dth, whichever is greater, of scheduled quantities. Penalties of 21.98 cents/Dth will be assessed for exceeding the tolerance.

Northwest said it will lift the Stage II (8% tolerance) Overrun Entitlement for receiving parties located north of Plymouth Compressor Station Friday. Northwest continued to advise customers not to draft its system north of Kemmerer Compressor Station in order to preserve north-end balancing gas needed to meet upcoming winter demand and help mitigate OFOs.

The investor consortium seeking to buy Puget Sound Energy (PSE) said Wednesday that the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) has notified all parties in the case that a final step in the regulatory process — the filing of reply briefs — is scheduled for Oct. 23, after which the state regulatory panel can make its final determination. That is the last remaining regulatory approval needed to close the $7.4 billion deal.

Northwest lifted Friday a Stage II (8% imbalance tolerance) Overrun Entitlement for Receiving Parties north of the Kemmerer (WY) Compressor Station that had been implemented early this month (see Daily GPI, April 4). However, the pipeline cautioned customers that its deliverability capacity at the Jackson Prairie storage facility “remains very limited” at about 200,000 Dth/d. “Although Northwest has lifted the entitlement, Northwest is advising customers not to draft the system at this time. Failure to comply with this request may result in Northwest issuing customer-specific or systemwide overrun entitlements, which may occur on any day, including weekends,” it said.

Effective Friday until further notice, Northwest is declaring a Stage II (8% tolerance) Overrun Entitlement for all receiving parties north of the Kemmerer (WY) Compressor Station. Northwest also gave customers notice of a potential OFO affecting Kemmerer throughput. “At this time, Northwest must declare an entitlement due to its limited storage flexibility to support customer drafting,” the pipeline said. “As reported on [the] Northwest website, the Jackson Prairie storage level is less than 5 Bcf. Based on this storage level, the deliverability capacity is approximately 160,000 Dth/day.” Customers’ post-Intraday 2 nomination requests will be rejected if they fail to call and get approval from Gas Control during the night, Northwest added. Primary scheduled quantities through Kemmerer have increased in recent days to exceed the station’s operational available capacity of 690,000 Dth/d, it said, asking shippers to voluntarily reduce their scheduled volumes through Kemmerer. See the bulletin board for further details.

XTO Energy Inc. built its position in the Barnett Shale of Texas Tuesday by announcing it paid $550 million to acquire 24,000 net acres from several undisclosed parties. Initially the properties, with estimated proved reserves of more than 200 Bcfe, will add about 25 MMcfe/d to XTO’s production base, but company engineers have identified another 300-350 drilling locations, which offer the potential to more than double the holdings’ reserves.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) said last Wednesday it has entered into an agreement with various parties to expand its Kinder Morgan Interstate Gas Transmission (KMIGT) pipeline to serve five new plants, four of them ethanol-producing, near Grand Island, NE.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) said Wednesday it has entered into an agreement with various parties to expand its Kinder Morgan Interstate Gas Transmission (KMIGT) pipeline to serve five new plants, four of them ethanol-producing, near Grand Island, NE.

KeySpan Corp. confirmed Friday it is in talks with various parties that could lead to its acquisition, but said it would likely stay mum on any developments until its board either approves a deal or terminates discussions.