Projected

National Fuel Gas Supply Corp. (Supply) and Empire Pipeline Inc. are holding two open seasons offering firm transportation capacity from the Marcellus Shale in central and southwestern Pennsylvania.

An annual increase of 1.75% in its peak-day gas loads through 2015 is projected by Boise, ID-based Intermountain Gas Co. in a five-year planning document submitted recently to the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC). Given planned upgrades over the next five years, Intermountain sees no peak-day challenges.

Operator Williams Field Services (WFS) said the Opal Plant did not reach full production at the projected time Tuesday due to a delay in the turnaround time from a shutdown. Thus it was necessary to curtail nominations for Wednesday’s gas day to make up for the previous day’s shortfalls to downstream pipes, WFS said. LaBarge Compressor Station remained down, it added, and Enterprise “had issues at Bridger Station, which resulted in a significantly reduced volume to the inlet of Opal Plant.” There was no estimated time for Bridger Station start-up, WFS said Wednesday.

California officials are openly unhappy with the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) projected 18-month timetable for the investigation of last Thursday’s natural gas pipeline explosion, which killed at least four and left several people still unaccounted for. Officials are pushing Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) and their own investigators to accelerate inspections and investigations that will eventually include all of PG&E’s pipelines in the state.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday cut its projected outlook for Henry Hub natural gas prices in 2010.

The Marcellus Shale is a lot to handle with its huge gas bounty, projected economic expansion, and attendant development issues, which can pit the energy industry, landowners, residents, politicians and others against one another. To smooth the path to Marcellus development in Pennsylvania, Penn State has formed the Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research (MCOR).

The Marcellus Shale is a lot to handle with its huge gas bounty, projected economic expansion, and attendant development issues, which can pit the energy industry, landowners, residents, politicians and others against one another. To smooth the path to Marcellus development in Pennsylvania, Penn State has formed the Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research (MCOR).

Pacific Gas and Electric did not extend a systemwide Stage 2 high-inventory OFO beyond Wednesday, but it projected that linepack on its California Gas Transmission system would be rising above maximum target levels Friday and Saturday.

Natural gas bills for San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) customers are projected to drop an average of 9.2% this January, compared to the same month last year. The combination utility told local Bay Area news media that the lower bills are the result of warmer weather and lower fuel costs.