Planning

Dynegy Inc. reported on Tuesday that it is planning to more than double its natural gas processing capacity in the Chico, TX, region by building a 150 MMcf/d gas processing facility. The move was deemed necessary in response to increased drilling and production activity at the Barnett Shale formation in North Texas.

Oklahoma’s record winter heating costs last season were caused by inadequate planning by Oklahoma Natural Gas Co., and thus customers should get some of their money back, according to witnesses testifying last week before the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC). The Commission is looking into charges that ONG did not adequately prepare for the last winter season, which caused rates to escalate.

Oklahoma’s record winter heating costs last season were caused by inadequate planning by Oklahoma Natural Gas Co., and thus customers should get some of their money back, according to witnesses testifying before the Oklahoma Corporation Commission this week. The Commission is looking into charges that ONG did not adequately prepare for the last winter season, which caused rates to escalate.

After months of planning and market tests for a proposed expansion of its gas storage facility in Butte County, CA, Wild Goose Storage Inc., a subsidiary of Alberta Energy Co. Ltd., filed an application with the California Public Utilities Commission last week to double the field’s size and triple the withdrawal capacity.

After months of planning and market tests for a proposed expansion of its gas storage facility in Butte County, CA, Wild Goose Storage Inc., a subsidiary of Alberta Energy Co. Ltd., filed an application with the California Public Utilities Commission yesterday to double the field’s size and triple the withdrawal capacity.

Mexico’s Comision Reguladora de Energia (CRE) said several international corporations are planning liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Mexico, and the CRE has formed a work group to identify necessary regulatory changes to grant permits and facilitate the development of the LNG plants. The country is expecting a 9% annual increase in gas demand, and LNG supply is expected to help meet some of that growth, CRE said in a statement. The probable sites for the LNG facilities include Altamira in Tamaulipas and Ensenada in Baja California. “The characteristics of each project are different and must be evaluated in order to identify the advantages that each of them pose to cover the growing demand of natural gas, demand fostered by a plan to develop electricity generating plants and projects of transport and distribution approved by the CRE.”

After years of planning and regulatory hurdles, PG&E Corp.’s National Energy Group (PG&E NEG) began construction last week on the Harquahala Generating Plant, a 1,048 MW natural gas-fired generating facility located approximately 70 miles west of Phoenix in the town of Tonopah, AZ (see NGI, Aug. 21, 2000).

After years of planning and regulatory hurdles, PG&E Corp.’s National Energy Group (PG&E NEG) began construction Monday on the Harquahala Generating Plant, a 1,048 MW natural gas-fired generating facility located approximately 70 miles west of Phoenix in the town of Tonopah, AZ (see Daily GPI, Aug. 17, 2000).

Planning, developing and building natural gas pipelines over the last decade has become a difficult endeavor, filled with the risk of numerous regulatory hurdles and barriers to entry, according to a panel of transmission experts last week at GasMart/Power 2001 in Tampa, FL.