Season

After previously noting that Critical Days for storage would become more common through the end of injection season, Columbia Gas (TCO) said Friday the gas days of Saturday through Monday would be deemed as such Critical Days. Based on its injection capacity and on forecasted firm requirements, TCO projected that all available injection capacity would be required to meet firm service obligations, with no likelihood of interruptible services. Withdrawals were not impacted. AutoPAL (Park and Loan) service would not be available through the weekend, TCO said.

Crosstex NGL Pipeline LP is holding a binding open season through Oct. 14 for capacity on a new natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline system (the Crosstex NGL Pipeline) to transport unfractionated NGLs produced in the Permian Basin, Midcontinent, Barnett Shale, Eagle Ford Shale and Rocky Mountain areas from the Mont Belvieu, TX, area to NGL fractionation facilities in Eunice and Riverside, LA. Crosstex Energy LP and Crosstex Energy Inc. plan to construct the common carrier pipeline with a preliminary design capacity of at least 70,000 b/d to Eunice, with a lesser amount of capacity available to Riverside (see Shale Daily, July 27). Crosstex NGL Pipeline is scheduled to be operational in the first quarter of 2013. For more information, contact Brad Iles at (214) 721-9363, or brad.iles@crosstexenergy.com.

A panel of West Virginia lawmakers approved three amendments to a draft Marcellus Shale regulatory reform bill on Monday, recommending that the state expand the public notice and comment period over drilling activities and change the way it hires natural gas well inspectors.

The West Virginia Legislature is unlikely to draft legislation on Marcellus Shale regulatory reform before the end of the year, according to a state senator with a key role in the process.

The excessively wet hydroelectric season in the West continues to hurt Calpine Corp.’s large fleet of natural gas-fired generation plants, Calpine senior executives told financial analysts Friday during a second quarter earnings conference call in which the large independent power company reported losses for the second quarter.

As record water levels continue over an extended time period this year in the Pacific Northwest, the hydrolectric season has stretched into an eight-month-long period, producing a similarly long period in which natural gas-fired generation plants remain mostly idle, according to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Following the successful completion of its initial open season to sell firm storage services from natural gas storage assets located in north-central Pennsylvania, UGI Storage Co. commenced service April 1 for winning bidders, including Virginia Power Energy Marketing, UGI Central Penn Gas (UGI CPG), J. Aron/Goldman Sachs and New Jersey Resources Energy Services, the Reading, PA-based company said.

No snowstorms are expected except for possibly in some mountainous areas of the West, but quite a few folks may be getting a reminder Tuesday that the winter season isn’t all that long departed. The chillier forecasts, aided slightly by the return of industrial load from its weekend decline, resulted in flat to higher prices at a large majority of trading points Monday.

Enterprise Products Partners LP unit Mid-America Pipeline Co. LLC (MAPL) is holding a binding open season through April 29 for a proposed expansion of the Rocky Mountain portion of its natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline. Originating in the Rocky Mountain Overthrust and San Juan Basin, the 2,793-mile pipeline extends to Enterprise’s Hobbs fractionator in Gaines County, TX. From there the MAPL system links to the Seminole Pipeline, allowing access to NGL fractionation at Mont Belvieu, TX. The expansion could be designed to add 45,000-85,000 b/d of incremental annual average capacity. The Rocky Mountain portion of MAPL currently has a capacity of 275,000 b/d. The project would involve looping pipe sections and upgrades at existing pump stations. MAPL is to announce a decision on the project by May 6, Enterprise said. The additional capacity could be available as soon as the third quarter of 2014. For information contact Bryan McFarland at (713) 381-2468 or bmcfarland@eprod.com.