storage

Shortly before 10 a.m. CDT Tuesday a flash fire occurred during a welding job at Station 201 of the Herscher gas storage facility in Kankakee County, IL, injuring five workers. The facility is connected to Kinder Morgan Inc.’s Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America. As of early Tuesday afternoon, four of the five injured had been released from the hospital with one remaining in stable condition. “The flash fire was extinguished immediately and the area has been secured,” a Kinder Morgan spokesman said. “The cause of the flash fire is under investigation. Currently there is no impact to customer service.”

July natural gas plunged Thursday after the release of a government inventory report showing slightly higher additions to storage than what traders were expecting.

Unconventional gas supplies around the world, particularly those from shale basins, “may hold the key to expanding the long-term role of gas in the global energy mix,” the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a new report released Monday.

Concord, MA-based independent power producer SCS Energy plans to take over a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project tied to a proposed integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power generation plant in the heart of the oil-rich southern San Joaquin Valley near Elk Hills. Earlier this year BP plc and Rio Tinto pulled out of the joint venture project centered on Hydrogen Energy California (HECA).

Houston-based NiSource Midstream Services (NMS) named John Bonn president and Brian Raber vice president of operations and engineering, the NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage (NGT&S) unit said. Bonn, who has worked in the past for Monarch Natural Gas, Enterprise Product Partners (EPP), El Paso Corp. and Delhi Gas Pipeline, will be responsible for the development of investment opportunities in the midstream sector and extending the NGT&S presence to the wellhead, with an initial focus on the Marcellus Shale region. Raber previously worked for Hoover Energy Partners, EPP, TEPPCO, El Paso and Moore Control Systems Inc. He will be responsible for all operations and engineering activities for NMS and report directly to Bonn.

Houston-based NiSource Midstream Services (NMS) named John Bonn president and Brian Raber vice president of operations and engineering, the NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage (NGT&S) unit said. Bonn, who has worked in the past for Monarch Natural Gas, Enterprise Product Partners (EPP), El Paso Corp. and Delhi Gas Pipeline, will be responsible for the development of investment opportunities in the midstream sector and extending the NGT&S presence to the wellhead, with an initial focus on the Marcellus Shale region. Raber previously worked for Hoover Energy Partners, EPP, TEPPCO, El Paso and Moore Control Systems Inc. He will be responsible for all operations and engineering activities for NMS and report directly to Bonn.

Withdrawal capacity at the Aliso Canyon storage field of Southern California Gas has decreased by 750 MMcf/d through June 30 due to maintenance on the facility’s #2 dehydration unit.

A U.S. subsidiary of Norway’s Statoil ASA has finalized an agreement to increase the availability of natural gas midstream services in the Marcellus Shale of northern West Virginia.

Southern California Gas lost 75 MMcf/d of injection capacity at its Playa del Rey storage field due to a retrofit of station injection piping. The restriction, which adds no impact to one that began late last week, is expected to last through March 28.