Rockies

Colorado Interstate Gas Pipeline(CIG) is back in full operations after being forced to shut down operations on a portion of its 4,300-mile pipeline system in the Rockies, aKinder Morgan Inc.(KMI) spokesperson said Tuesday. Inspection and recovery have been completed on two buried laterals that were exposed by the historic flooding and runoff in areas north and west of Denver. A force majeure had been declared and the pipeline taken out of service in mid-September (seeDaily GPI,Sept. 17). CIG is a unit ofEl Paso Pipeline, a subsidiary of KMI. The laterals were taken out of service as a precaution until they could be inspected, recovered and brought back online. CIG Lines 59A and 252A had been taken out of service; 59A delivers to theYoung Gas Storage Co., and 252A transports gas to the Tritown delivery point. CIG includes 4.5 Bcf capacity pipelines linked to gas production areas in the Rockies and the Anadarko Basin. It links directly to customers in Colorado and Wyoming and indirectly to other areas. CIG also owns interests in five storage facilities with 35 Bcf of working capacity in Colorado and Kansas.

A FERC administrative law judge (ALJ) initial decision issued last week has found that the fuel tracking provisions for Rockies Express Pipeline LLC (REX) are not just and reasonable, recommended refunds to shippers of $22.2 million, and endorsed an alternative to the existing tracker, which was found to be overly complex and almost impossible to monitor.

A FERC administrative law judge (ALJ) initial decision has found that the fuel tracking provisions for Rockies Express Pipeline LLC (REX) are not just and reasonable, recommended refunds to shippers of $22.2 million, and endorsed an alternative to the existing tracker, which was found to be overly complex and almost impossible to monitor.

FERC on Friday issued a favorable environmental assessment (EA) of Tallgrass Interstate Gas Transmission’s proposal to convert the Pony Express Pipeline to meet the increasing demand for crude oil transportation service out of the Bakken formation.

The continued uptrend in North America’s unconventional natural gas and oil supplies and global demand dynamics suggest that the outlook for pipeline and storage infrastructure development may not only be bullish but also long-term, according to analysts with Raymond James & Associates Inc.

Natural gas cash prices overall surged 17 cents on average Monday led by mega-gains extending from the Rockies to Chicago. Without losses posted at a handful of Northeast points, the average gain becomes 21 cents.

Oil, the latest growth engine of the U.S. unconventional boom, is spurting up from the ground at an exceptional pace, which is leading many operators to rethink where — and how — they want to deliver their reserves for the best prices.

Summit Investments has agreed to acquire Bear Tracker Energy LLC for $513 million from affiliates of GSO Capital Partners LP and Bear Tracker Investments LLC. Midstream company Bear Tracker is focused on oil and natural gas in North Dakota and Colorado.

Producers gored natural gas prices with the drillbit and have done the same to natural gas liquids (NGL) prices. Ethane rejection — seen last year in the Rockies and Midcontinent — could be “widespread” this year, and the Northeast could see gas production shut-ins as pipeline specification limits are tested, according to a midstream outlook prepared by U.S. Capital Advisors.