Questar

Questar moved up the scheduled resumption of normal operations at its Clay Basin storage facility by one day to the start of the April 18 gas day. The current Clay Basin shut-in previously had been expected to last until April 19 (see Daily GPI, April 2).

Questar said Friday it has been informed that repairs to Greasewood Compressor Station, which experienced a mechanical failure Dec. 16 (see Daily GPI, Dec. 19) will not be completed until Jan. 8.

Flat quotes for Questar made it the only point failing to bow to weak fundamentals and five straight prior trading days of falling futures Thursday. The rest of the cash market saw price drops ranging from a little less than a nickel to about 55 cents.

Another piece of the giant puzzle known as the Rockies Express Pipeline LLC Project is falling into place. Questar Corp.’s Overthrust Pipeline has filed an application at FERC seeking authorization to build a nearly 80-mile extension that would be the westernmost end of the Rockies Express project, a 1,663-mile, 42-inch diameter pipeline that would transport Rocky Mountain gas supplies to markets in the Midwest and East.

Questar reported experiencing a mechanical failure of unit #5 at its Clay Basin storage facility Sunday evening, and as a result, injection capacity was reduced by 20,000 Dth/d to 350,000 Dth/d for Tuesday’s gas day. The restriction will continue until repairs are completed.

Compressor failure has cut Fidlar Station capacity to 90,000-100,000 Dth/d until Nov. 21 or further notice, Questar said. Shippers may reduce adverse scheduling impact by using the TransColorado delivery point, it added.

Saying Questar Crossover 16 receipt point gas quality was tested and adheres to its tariff standards (see Daily GPI, May 7), Northwest resumed accepting nominations there in Wednesday’s intraday cycle.

A 14% rate increase to cover South Carolina Electric & Gas Co.’s (SCE&G) purchased gas costs, was approved by the South Carolina Public Service Commission. The Scana Corp. subsidiary said it is expecting sharply higher gas prices this winter to drive up wholesale purchase costs. The utility passes through to retail customers its cost of buying gas. “Natural gas prices on the wholesale market are expected to increase almost 20% in the coming months and that’s why this rate adjustment is necessary,” said Keller Kissam, SCE&G’s vice president of natural gas operations. Kissam cited the rising cost of oil and the forecasts for a colder than normal winter as reasons why wholesale costs are expected to be higher. SCE&G was granted an increase from 59.65 cents a therm to 72.79 cents per therm. The increase will appear on customer bills beginning in November. For a natural gas customer who uses 100 therms per month during the winter heating season, this means a monthly increase of $13.20 from $92.49 to $105.69. During the non-heating season, when typical usage is 25 therms a month, customers can expect to see monthly increases of about $3. SCE&G’s gas distribution system serves 267,000 customers in 34 counties of South Carolina.

Move over El Paso, CIG, Transwestern, Kern River and Questar Pipeline, and make way for another major pipeline project to the California energy market. Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. and independent power producer Calpine Corp. announced yesterday that they plan to build in two stages a 1,160-mile, 1.75-2.25 Bcf/d natural gas pipeline extending from the San Juan Basin to the California border and then to the San Francisco Bay area.