Rapidly

Downplaying the current struggle to boost gas supply enough to meet rapidly growing gas demand, officials at the Potential Gas Committee (PGC) last week instead highlighted the slow and steady growth of the resource base in the U.S. Canada and Mexico, and the need for fewer government restrictions on land access and exploration and production.

The winter peak in gas demand has a new rival: summer peakdemand. And many market observers are wondering if the two canco-exist. With rapidly increasing gas-fired generation, theindustry will be hard pressed to met traditional loads whileserving what once was a low priorty — the power generators.

Soaring California gas prices and rapidly rising gas demandmainly for power generation the Pacific Northwest and Californiahas prompted an expansion of the PG&E Gas TransmissionNorthwest (GTN) system. The pipeline said last week it plans tofile with FERC in April for a small initial expansion project fornext year but potentially could add 1 Bcf/d of capacity over thenext decade.

In an attempt to capture the price discovery offered in therapidly expanding electronic exchange market, NGI added a new pricereport to its daily publication, NGI’s Daily Gas Price Index, andto its website. “NGI’s Electronic Platform Trading Index” will becomprised of deals done each morning before 11:30 a.m. (CST) andwill be published on its website at http://intelligencepress.com by1 p.m. (CST) each business day and in NGI’s Daily Gas Price Indexthe following day.

Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline is planning to expand firmtransportation capacity from the rapidly growing Powder River Basinto its connection with Northern Border in North Dakota by 55MMcf/d. The company is holding an open season through Nov. 30.

Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline is planning to expand firmtransportation capacity from the rapidly growing Powder River Basinto its connection with Northern Border in North Dakota by 55MMcf/d. The company is holding an open season through Nov. 30.

Pipeline companies are having a hard time keeping up with therapidly growing coal-bed methane production in the Powder RiverBasin. Coastal Corp.’s Wyoming Interstate Company just put itsMedicine Bow lateral into service last November and the companyalready is filing plans for a second expansion, which will addanother 675,000 Dth/d of firm capacity, bringing the total to morethan 1 Bcf/d.

Pipeline companies are having a hard time keeping up with therapidly growing coal-bed methane production in the Powder RiverBasin. Coastal Corp.’s Wyoming Interstate Company just put itsMedicine Bow lateral into service last November and the companyalready is filing plans for a second expansion, which will addanother 675,000 Dth/d of firm capacity, bringing the total to morethan 1 Bcf/d.

Although you couldn’t tell from rapidly depleting gas storagelevels or lofty gas prices, this winter turned out to be thewarmest on record for the United States, according to a report bythe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And it was thethird winter in a row in which record warmth cooked the UnitedStates.