Replacement

Algonquin Gas Transmission LLC broke ground Tuesday on its Ramapo Expansion, which includes a new compressor station in Oxford, CT; replacement of approximately five miles of natural gas pipeline in Ramapo, NY; new turbine compressor units at three existing stations in New York and New Jersey; and upgrades to other existing facilities.

El Paso said it has determined that a pipe anomaly between the Eunice and Pecos River Stations will require replacement of about 80 feet of pipe, which will begin at 8 a.m. MST Thursday and is expected to take 12 hours. The reduction in segment capacity will be about 200 MMcf/d out of a base capacity of 400 MMcf/d. The IPENNWELL interconnect will be completely shut in for the duration of the work, but based on current levels of throughput, El Paso expects minimal service impact.

NGPL said pipeline replacement work on segment one in its Midcontinent Zone will further reduce pressure on its system, cutting capacity from an already reduced state. The pipeline expects a complete outage on that section of the system Nov. 16-17, affecting about 15 receipt/delivery points.

BP plc Tuesday reported second quarter profit of $7.3 billion, 30% higher than the $5.6 billion a year earlier. The company’s replacement cost profit was $6.1 billion, up from about $5 billion a year earlier. All segments — E&P, Refining and Marketing, and Gas, Power & Renewables — showed improvement, although costs were higher.

Entergy Corp. is estimating total restoration costs for the repair or replacement of its electric facilities damaged by Hurricane Rita will be in the range of $400-550 million, while Cleco Corp. last week estimated that Rita will cost the company approximately $50 million.

Total restoration costs for the repair and/or replacement of Entergy’s electric and gas facilities damaged by Hurricane Katrina and business continuity costs are estimated to be in the range of $750 million to $1.1 billion, the utility said last Tuesday.

Due to pipeline replacement on the East Line, MRT is unable to accept nominations through Aug. 9 that result in physical receipts from the NGPL interconnect in Clinton County, IL for delivery to any on-system point.

The Department of Transportation published last week the criteria it will use in considering applications for waivers that would allow pipe operators to bypass replacing portions of their natural gas pipelines when their class locations have been upgraded due to growth in nearby population centers.

The Department of Transportation published this week the criteria it will use in considering applications for waivers that would allow pipeline operators to bypass replacing portions of their gas pipelines when their class locations have been upgraded due to growth in nearby population.