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CenterPoint (formerly Reliant) declared a systemwide Critical Period effective Saturday until further notice, saying it required shippers and pool managers “to stay in balance and have adequate supplies to meet deliveries.”

The worldwide liquefied natural gas (LNG) business is in a state of rapid growth and flux, and the U.S. marketplace is guiding it, according to Gabriel Avgerinos, general manager of LNG and gas consulting at Poten & Partners in New York. Speaking on a panel at GasMart/Power in Reno, Avgerinos predicted that a massive expansion of LNG trade and imports will take place over the next decade as long as U.S. gas prices remain above $2.50/MMBtu.

Taking advantage of a consent order that required ChevronTexaco to sell some assets before a merger could be completed, Duke Energy Field Services (DEFS) picked up a jewel — a 33% stake in Discovery Producer Services LLC, which extends from the deepwater offshore Louisiana to onshore delivery points 30 miles south of New Orleans. The system includes a 600 MMcf/d interstate gas pipeline, including a 30-inch mainline that extends to the edge of the outer continental shelf. Financial details were not disclosed, and the transaction is expected to close in the second quarter.

The worldwide liquefied natural gas (LNG) business is in a state of rapid growth and flux, and the U.S. marketplace is guiding it, according to Gabriel Avgerinos, general manager of LNG and gas consulting at Poten & Partners in New York. Speaking on a panel at GasMart/Power in Reno, Avgerinos predicted that a massive expansion of LNG trade and imports will take place over the next decade as long as U.S. gas prices remain above $2.50/MMBtu.

Financial incentives proposed in the Senate omnibus energy bill would lower the “trigger price” required for construction of an Alaska natural gas pipeline to be economically favorable to $3.05/Mcf, according to a new report issued by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Sonat reported experiencing an unscheduled outage Monday on the 10-inch Bayou Postillion Line in Louisiana. Repairs required that it isolate and blow down the affected section. Sonat declared a force majeure and OFO Type 1 in association with the event. Effective with Tuesday’s evening cycle and until further notice, it is unable to schedule gas from the Bayou Postillion #2-Anson #2 receipt point.

The BP-operated Pascagoula (MS) Plant has informed Destin Pipeline that a full plant shutdown will be required Tuesday to replace a leaking upstream valve. The processing outage will begin at 9 a.m. CST and is expected to last no more than 12 hours. The Destin gas stream is rich enough that it must be processed to meet quality specs of downstream pipes, a spokesman said, so Destin operators will have to shut in during the plant work. Current throughput is down to about 500 MMcf/d because of some producer maintenance, so the plant outage will affect about 250 MMcf that day. An earlier Destin bulletin board posting had said the plant work was set for Monday, but it was decided early Thursday afternoon to wait until Tuesday in an effort to accommodate producer interests, the spokesman said.

In compliance with a Georgia Public Service Commission (GPSC) order, Atlanta Gas Light Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary of AGL Resources Inc., filed its cost-of-service study as part of the ongoing review of the company’s earnings. The investigation stems from two separate but related studies, which the adversary staff of the GPSC said showed that AGLC’s earnings are 4-7% more than its authorized return on equity (ROE) (see Daily GPI, Aug. 23, 2001).

Although Canadian producers have been displaying theirtraditional optimism with expectations of steady growth in gasdeliverability and production, a new survey of 40 producers by theCanadian Energy Research Institute (CERI) shows that their capitalspending plans tell a different story.