Pipeline

Over the next decade as the Rocky Mountain is saved byincreasing pipeline transportation, the trend of reserve growth inrecent years will finally pay off in dramatic production increases,Fred Julander, past chairman of the Colorado Oil & Gas Assoc.told the group’s annual meeting.

Expanding on its plan to add additional gas-fired powergeneration capacity near the Dow Chemical power plant and pipelinefacilities in Pittsburg, CA, that it purchased earlier this month,Calpine Corp. announced a partnership yesterday with BechtelEnterprises to build 2,000 MW of gas-fired power generation inNorthern California, primarily near San Francisco.

Mojave Pipeline will shut in its Mt. Poso delivery point foreight hours July 28 to modify piping. El Paso’s Monument B Plantwill be down eight hours on July 29 for piping repairs. TheIWARMONU interconnect will be completely shut in while ITEXNEUNwill be limited to 35 MMcf/d.

Columbia Gas Transmission’s proposal to sell its Project Pennytransmission system in western New York and northwesternPennsylvania to Norse Pipeline LLC, which seeks to refunctionalizethe facilities as gathering, is a “thinly-veiled attempt todramatically increase” rates to move gas on the system atproducers’ expense, charged an independent producer.

Dynegy Inc. (formerly NGC Corp.) sold its Haynesville, LA, gasprocessing and fractionation facility and related gas and gasliquids pipeline systems to Duke Energy Field Services. The sale ofthe non-strategic asset continues the rationalization of certaingas processing plants acquired from Trident and Chevron, which hasresulted in greater operating efficiencies and lower costs, Dynegysaid.

The apparent success of the Alliance Pipeline Project islighting a fire under government and industry plans to build upnatural gas production behind its starting point, in northeasternBritish Columbia, into a mainstay of supplies for markets east ofthe Rocky Mountains.

Nautilus Pipeline said it is on track to begin receiving gasagain at Ship Shoal 207 at the start of the May 1 gas day.Processing of a large condensate slug at Exxon’s Garden City Plantonshore Louisiana (see Daily GPI, April 17) is expected to becompleted by Thursday.

The current North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) tariffon gas imports into Mexico is holding up pipeline development fromthe U.S. to northern Mexico, said consultant George Baker of Baker& Associates. “The only people that have to pay this tariff arethe private industry who would contract with a U.S. gas supplier.If they buy [gas] from Pemex [Petroleos Mexicanos], however, it’s arolled-in price and they don’t pay it.” The tariff, originally 10%in 1991, is rolled back 1% a year and currently stands at 5%.That’s still too high for the private sector to feel confident itcan make money shipping gas to Mexico, Baker told attendees Tuesdayat the conference portion of Houston Energy Expo ’98, formerlyknown as Gas Fair. “That’s an important delay, and the origin of itis largely Pemex’s wanting to say, ‘we’re not ready for competitionyet.’ Some people say, ‘have you ever heard of a state monopolythat has acknowledged that it’s ready for competition yet.’ Mostpeople say no.”

Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s Express 500 Project, which offers firmtransportation through the bottlenecked Gulf of Mexico supply area,won more than 1 Bcf/d of capacity requests from customers duringthe project’s first open season. “We believe that this level ofparticipation demonstrates the need for incremental capacity fromthe Gulf Coast,” said Tennessee President John Somerhalder II.