Ship

Alaskans would benefit most from a joint project to build the planned 4.5 Bcf/d pipeline from the North Slope to ship natural gas south to Canada and the Lower 48 states along with a spur distribution line to serve southern Alaska, but the state is going to have to chip in with considerable financial support, according to a federal official.

El Paso Corp. last Thursday placed into service its 680-mile, 42-inch diameter Ruby Pipeline, which will ship Rockies natural gas to West Coast markets in direct competition with Canadian gas. Ruby is the largest gas pipeline project to serve the West since the expansion of the Kern River Gas Transmission in 2003, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

El Paso Corp. said Thursday it has placed into service its 680-mile, 42-inch diameter Ruby Pipeline, which will ship Rockies natural gas to West Coast markets in direct competition with Canadian gas.

Howard Energy Partners (HEP) announced it has acquired Texas Pipeline LLC and Bottom Line Services LLC for $76 million. Two firms — Crosstex Energy LP and Quanta Services Inc. — each provided $35 million in initial funding in exchange for about a 35% share of San Antonio-based HEP. Texas Pipeline operates 250 miles of gathering lines in the Eagle Ford and Pearsall shale plays. Bottom Line has built more than 500 miles of pipeline and installed more than 50 midstream facilities in the Eagle Ford.

Sponsors of Canada’s proposed first liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal are thinking big.

Sponsors of Canada’s proposed first liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal are thinking big.

Nautilus Pipeline shut in its system at Ship Shoal 207 and declared force majeure Sunday after discovering a leak. The pipeline said its initial investigation indicated that an anchor dragged across the system caused the damage. As of Sunday Nautilus nominations needed to be redirected to other available markets until further notice, a bulletin board posting said.

An El Paso Corp. subsidiary has renewed a contract with the Navajo Nation, which gives the Houston-based pipeline operator the right to ship natural gas across more than 900 miles of tribal lands in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and California. No financial details were disclosed. Three years ago El Paso Natural Gas Co. and the Navajo Nation signed an interim agreement that ended a stalemate over the fair dollar value of the gas pipeline’s access to tribal lands (see Daily GPI, Jan. 18, 2006). The interim agreement allowed El Paso to continue to transport around 2.7 Bcf/d across the disputed area, and it also gave the parties time to renegotiate a longer-term agreement for right of way (ROW) access. In September 2006 El Paso’s offer of nearly $200 million to renew a 20-year contract was rejected. At that time, the Navajo Nation demanded $440 million for the ROW, which was around twice El Paso’s original offer (see Daily GPI, Oct. 3, 2005).

FERC Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Bruce Birchman last Monday certified under seal a joint offer of settlement that, if ultimately approved by the agency, would resolve all charges that Energy Transfer Partners’ Oasis Pipeline LP and affiliates discriminated against nonaffiliated shippers and charged excessive rates in violation of Section 311 of the Natural Gas Policy Act (NGPA).