storage

Ameren Corp. subsidiaries have signed long-term contracts for more than 640 MMcf/d of transportation and 16 Bcf of storage capacity with Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co. and Trunkline Gas Co.

In spite of bearish EIA storage figures, natural gas futures turned tail and headed higher in active inventory report-driven trading Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The EIA reported withdrawals from working gas inventory tallied a miserly 23 Bcf, below the ICAP options auction consensus of 25.5 Bcf, and short of a Reuter’s survey of 22 analysts and traders that predicted a fall of 31 Bcf. Bentek Energy of Colorado calculated a withdrawal of 40.9 Bcf in its Wednesday Daily Market Summary.

The recent storage- and weather-driven downturn in natural gas prices has given investors pause, but producers remain undaunted, according to Raymond James & Associates Inc.

The recent storage- and weather-driven downturn in natural gas prices has given investors pause, but producers remain undaunted, according to Raymond James & Associates Inc.

When the natural gas industry looks back at 2005, it will show that Congress made significant headway on pipeline, storage and liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure issues, but it made little, if any, progress in the area of expanding gas supply, industry officials say.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) and Sempra Pipelines & Storage said Tuesday they received 1.3 Bcf/d in binding, conforming commitments for two separate open seasons for the proposed Rockies Express Pipeline project (see Daily GPI, Nov. 10). The partners said they will make a final decision on the proposed west-to-east pipeline in February.

As expected (see Daily GPI, Oct. 21), all of the cash market succumbed Friday to a bearish storage report, prior-day futures weakness, a dearth of weather-based demand and a weekend slump in industrial load. Price drops ranged from about 20 cents to more than a dollar. The biggest declines were concentrated in the Midcontinent and West.

El Paso said there will be no withdrawals from its Washington Ranch storage facility through Friday while repairs are made to the dehydration plant’s fire tube. Washington Ranch’s #2 compressor was already down for maintenance through Oct. 17, limiting injections to about 75 MMcf/d. As a result of these maintenance projects, El Paso said it has lost a large degree of operational flexibility and will impose custody limits on delivery points and/or place caps on receipt point as needed to maintain system integrity.

Columbia Gulf said it will begin accepting nominations Wednesday for up to 183,000 Dth/d Egan Hub Storage in South Louisiana following a one-day maintenance shutdown of Egan Tuesday. The pipeline had previously expected to have only 150,000 Dth/d of Egan capacity available Wednesday (see Daily GPI, July 26).