Starting

After coasting for a year, western Canadian natural gas drilling is shifting back into gear and producers are starting to accelerate activity, field contractors reported.

After coasting for a year, western Canadian natural gas drilling is shifting back into gear and producers are starting to accelerate activity, field contractors reported.

A steady downpour across the Midwest this month has led to delays in starting up a portion of the Rockies Express (REX) pipeline and the Big Sandy Pipeline project.

Falling cash prices at nearly all points Thursday reflected the fact that the latest blast of cold weather is starting to wane, although forecasts of Friday lows around freezing were still common in northern market areas and extended as far south as Atlanta.

Citing “dramatically decreasing temperatures,” Northern Natural Gas declared a System Overrun Limitation for all market-area zones starting Tuesday.

Prices kept falling at a majority of points Thursday as traders saw moderating weather starting in several areas Friday through the weekend and storage use continued to keep a lid on new spot gas purchases. The previous day’s 4.9-cent drop by February futures was an additional, albeit minor, bearish influence.

Transco said it will implement an Imbalance OFO effective Wednesday until further notice due to forecasts of much colder weather starting early this week in its entire market area. The pipeline reminded shippers of a notice two weeks ago advising of unplanned maintenance issues at Station 70 in Walthall County, MS, and at Station 100 in Chilton County, AL (see Daily GPI, Dec. 20) that continue to impact its ability to provide interruptible services, manage system imbalances and maintain intraday flexibility. In order to ensure system integrity, as of Tuesday (Jan. 1) Transco was not allowing excess storage withdrawals under WSS or GSS services, and it reduced pool imbalance tolerances to 1%. Wednesday’s OFO requires all customers to ensure that daily negative imbalances be no greater than 5%. Those with due-pipeline imbalances will not be subject to penalty, Transco said.

Starting December off with a bang, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) announced last week that Western Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 204 was a success with accepted high bids valued at more than $287 million. The government agency also released fiscal year 2007 (FY2007) revenue collection and disbursement amounts.

Starting December off with a bang, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) announced Tuesday that Western Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 204 was a success with accepted high bids valued at more than $287 million. On Monday, the government agency also released fiscal year 2007 (FY2007) revenue collection and disbursement amounts.