Pass

Sonat said Wednesday it had gotten regulatory approval for a planto repair the July 5 rupture in its 14-inch Romere Pass Line offshoresoutheastern Louisiana (see Daily GPI, July24). Barring unforeseen problems, the pipeline hopes to begin thework today.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the 14-inch Romere Pass Line offshore southeastern Louisiana (see Daily GPI, July 7; July 18) could be back in service on or around Aug. 11, Sonat said Friday. The line ruptured July 5, causing the shut-in of up to 100 MMcf/d at five receipt points. A repair plan has been completed and submitted to regulatory authorities for approval, the pipeline said. It expects that the approvals could be completed in time for work to begin on or about Thursday of this week. July 27. The estimated repair time is 10-15 calendar days.

PG&E Corp. is the latest energy giant to seek a toehold inthe fast-growing Arizona merchant power plant market, gaining aninitial state approval last week, but facing up to a half-dozencounty, state and federal environmental reviews for a proposed $500million, 1,040 MW natural gas-fired plant near Phoenix.

Sonat declared a force majeure Friday for its 26-inch Main PassLine after taking the Olga (LA) Compressor Station off-line due toproblems with the liquids re-injection system. Olga capacity wasreduced to 430,000 dth/d, affecting 35 receipt points. The pipelineestimated it would take 10 days to restore full service at thestation.

Working into the early hours of Thursday morning, thePennsylvania General Assembly finally pushed through a statewidegas restructuring bill in the last session before the assemblybroke for summer vacation. Under the Natural Gas Choice andCompetition Act, gas will become a price-deregulated commodity forresidential and small commercial customers on Nov. 1. Governor TomRidge, who has already voiced his support for the bill, has 10 daysto sign it into law.

In an effort to capture the rewards and pass along savings madepossible by performance-based rates, NIPSCO Industries and its newaffiliate, Bay State Gas, are combining gas supply operations. Thetwo LDCs, which became sister companies when NIPSCO parent NIbought Bay State in February, expect to save as much as $1million/year through combined portfolio management, according toone source.

In an effort to capture the rewards and pass along savings madepossible by performance-based rates, NIPSCO Industries and its newaffiliate Bay State Gas are combining gas supply operations. TheMidwest and New England LDCs manage firm loads of about 500 MMcf/dand most of that will be procured on the daily spot market in thefuture, said NIPSCO’s Dan Gavito, vice president of corporate gassupply.