Point

FERC has given Dominion Cove Point LNG LP the green light to begin commercial operation of a new fifth storage tank at its liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal on the eastern shore of Maryland. With the new tank, the facility’s LNG storage capacity will be expanded to 7.8 Bcf from its current capacity of 5 Bcf. The company plans to add two or three more tanks later to accommodate volumes for Statoil, bringing total storage capacity to 14.6 Bcf. It also plans to expand current vaporization of 1 Bcf/d to 1.8 Bcf/d.

El Paso’s latest internal production forecasts point to a need for an additional 2 Bcf/d of pipeline capacity from the Rocky Mountain production areas to markets by 2010, an executive for El Paso Western Pipelines told a Denver audience last Wednesday.

El Paso’s latest internal production forecasts point to a need for an additional 2 Bcf/d of pipeline capacity from the Rocky Mountain production areas to markets by 2010, an executive for El Paso Western Pipelines told a Denver audience last Wednesday.

For the second day in a row El Paso’s San Juan-Blanco pool was the odd point out Wednesday amid a continued firmness in prices overall. At other locations quotes rose between a nickel (CIG) and about 20 cents.

A June 2000 internal presentation by Royal Dutch/Shell Group planners apparently warned about overly optimistic proven and probable oil and gas reserves, according to a report in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal.

A June 2000 internal presentation by Royal Dutch/Shell Group planners apparently warned about overly optimistic proven and probable oil and gas reserves, according to a report in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal.

TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. finished repairs of the second rupture point on its Nova system Thursday morning and put the stretch of pipe back into service. The two line breaks occurred early last week in a remote section of Alberta, shutting down the 36-inch pipeline and approximately 465 MMcf/d of the 750 MMcf/d throughput. Only 285 MMcf/d was getting through with both ruptures, according to TransCanada spokeswoman Hejdi Feick. After the first rupture was fixed Saturday, the pipeline was moving 313 MMcf/d, she noted, adding that the pipes current throughput was not known yet. While some producers shut in gas during the down time, others turned to alternative shipping channels such as the Alliance Pipeline. TransCanada PipeLines’ preliminary investigations have indicated external corrosion was the likely cause of the ruptures (see Daily GPI, Dec. 5).

Like a rubber band stretched to its snapping point, the natural gas futures market was unable to extend any further to the downside Monday as both bull and bear traders were reluctant to make a move ahead of the December expiry Tuesday. Modest buying was seen at the closing bell, gently nudging the prompt month 4.8 cents higher to its penultimate day settlement of $4.682.

Concluding that the existing natural gas supply chain is “near the breaking point” despite abundant resources in the United States, the House task force on natural gas in a report last Tuesday placed much of the blame for restricted supplies on the federal government for its conflicting policies that promote gas consumption yet deny producers access to gas-rich federal lands.