Rocky

With the Kern River 2003 pipeline expansion set to add 900 MMcf/d of gas transportation capacity out of the Rocky Mountain region this fall, other upstream pipelines are expecting producers to begin searching for ways to bring their growing production to Opal, WY, where Kern begins its 900-mile route to Southern California.

With the Kern River 2003 pipeline expansion set to add 900 MMcf/d of gas transportation capacity out of the Rocky Mountain region this fall, other upstream pipelines are expecting producers to begin searching for ways to bring their growing production to Opal, WY, where Kern begins its 900-mile route to Southern California.

Officials at Colorado Interstate Gas (CIG) are expecting extremely depressed gas prices and wide basis differentials in the Rocky Mountain region this year to provide enough of an incentive for producers to finally step up to the plate and support an eastern greenfield pipeline project, and possibly the switching of Wyoming Interstate to westbound flow to support demand from Kern River shippers at the Opal hub.

Officials at Colorado Interstate Gas (CIG) are expecting extremely depressed gas prices and wide basis differentials in the Rocky Mountain region this year to provide enough of an incentive for producers to finally step up to the plate and support an eastern greenfield pipeline project, and possibly the switching of Wyoming Interstate to westbound flow to support demand from Kern River shippers at the Opal hub.

The current Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) got off to a rocky start, but it seems to have “hit its stride,” said a former FERC commissioner last Thursday.

It was a rocky week for Williams, which delayed its final earnings estimate Tuesday in order to evaluate contingent liabilities with its spin-off Williams Communications Group (WCG), an action that sparked a rash of investor lawsuits and split the two main ratings agencies down the middle. Late Friday Moody’s Investor Service confirmed Williams ratings, and classified them as stable, while even later Friday Standard and Poor’s (S&P) placed Williams and subsidiaries on CreditWatch with negative implications.

Williams ended a rocky week Friday with two major credit ratings agencies split on how to evaluate its obligations to its spin-off, Williams Communications Group (WCG), and at least five class action lawsuits filed claiming it misrepresented those obligations. Late Friday Moody’s Investors Service confirmed the ratings of the parent company (WMB, Baa2 senior unsecured) and its subsidiaries. Moody’s also confirmed the Baa3 debt rating of Williams Communications Group (WCG) Note Trust, a third-party special purpose vehicle to which Williams has a contingent obligation. In addition Moody’s said the rating outlook for both entities are stable.

Cash prices plummeted more than 30 cents at some points in the Rocky Mountain region Monday as western pipelines remained packed with gas, and maintenance reduced transportation out of the region. Late reports showed spot price lows in the $1.20s at Opal, WY after averaging in the $1.80s on Friday. Fifty-cent ranges were common throughout the Rockies.

In an effort to bring burgeoning Rocky Mountain gas production to the Midcontinent region, Williams Gas Pipeline has filed an application for a new $365 million pipeline that would run from the Cheyenne Hub in northern Colorado to multiple pipeline interconnections in southwestern Kansas and the panhandle of Oklahoma.