Primary

Noting that over the past several days primary firm scheduled volumes through Kemmerer Compressor Station have exceeded design capacity of 655,000 Dth/d and current operational capacity of 680,000 Dth/d, Northwest said Sunday a Recall Advisory and OFO will become effective at the station Tuesday until further notice. Under the Recall Advisory, Northwest asks shippers to immediately recall capacity that is subject to OFO recall provisions. Shippers affected by the Recall Advisory and OFO are those that have a realignment OFO obligation through Kemmerer, the pipeline said. Northwest also lifted at the end of last Friday’s gas day a Declared Deficiency Period at Roosevelt Compressor Station, but it said a related OFO there remained in place due to high scheduled quantities through Roosevelt.

Due to scheduled maintenance, Dominion Transmission shippers on gas day Oct. 11 on a handful of Lebanon receipt points will be limited to “primary only.” They are meter #40601 TXG- Lebanon, #40401 ANR-Lebanon, #40501 TET-Lebanon Lateral and #40410 REX-Lebanon.

At first it looked as though November futures were going to settle above the psychologically important $5 level, but the realization that the primary near-term market driver — forecasts of colder-than-normal weather — had been fully discounted was enough to pull the plug on prices.

Northwest began an annual inspection of its Soda Springs Compressor Station Monday that is scheduled to run through May 22. Because primary firm nomination requests through the station exceeded the available capacity of 580,000 Dth/d, Northwest notified shippers of a Declared Deficiency Period that will continue through the end of the inspection.

Northwest, which began anomaly repairs Tuesday near the Muddy Creek Compressor Station, said primary firm nomination requests through the Muddy Creek South Constraint Point had exceeded the available capacity of 160,000 Dth/d. Therefore it notified shippers of a Declared Deficiency Period that is expected to remain in effect through Friday. Based on a design capacity of 513,000 Dth/d, the Daily Deficiency Volume is 353,000 Dth/d, Northwest said.

Citing “a significant reduction in primary nominations” through the Meacham Compressor Station, Northwest lifted the Realignment OFO through the station Wednesday. Northwest also said it had ended a Declared Deficiency Period at the Caldwell Compressor Station Tuesday.

Moderating weather trends appeared to trump Monday’s 31.7-cent spike by expiring May futures as the primary influence on cash trading for the end of April Tuesday. The result was mixed price movement in the East in which most points moved up or down by a dime or less. However, mild temperatures in the Rockies and cool conditions in California caused major losses in the Rockies market and mostly lower prices in the rest of the West.

Because Primary firm nomination requests through the Cisco Compressor Station have exceeded the available capacity of 276,000 Dth/d, Northwest notified shippers of a Declared Deficiency Period that began Tuesday. The station is undergoing a turbine changeout that reduces its capacity from the normal 359,000 Dth/d (see Daily GPI, March 4). Based on the design capacity of 359,000 Dth/d, the Daily Deficiency Volume is 83,000 Dth, Northwest said. The Declared Deficiency Period is expected to last through the end of Thursday’s gas day.

Questions about the credit ratings of a debt service provider in two natural gas pre-pay deals involving California’s primary public-sector utility financing arms will not affect the credit or outlook on either state-chartered agency, according to Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P). Combined, the gas contracts involve $1.26 billion in project revenue bonds.