System

El Paso Natural Gas President Richard Baish said the pipelinerejected all of the bids for available California-bound capacity onits system during the second open season, which ended yesterday.

SRS (Strategic Resource Solutions Corp.), a subsidiary ofCarolina Power & Light has announced the launch of a newInternet-based system that helps clients improve facility controland reduce operating costs. SiteNetT Command Center, the latestweb-based solution from SRS, enables clients to integrate multiplesites for centralized energy and facility management. Based onInternet and Intranet standards, SiteNet Command Center integratesmultiple facility systems through a Single Window(SM) forcentralized navigation, monitoring and control of facility andenergy information. Using a standard web browser, clients havereal-time access to their facility solutions, ranging from buildingcontrol systems to energy, maintenance and asset managementsystems. SiteNet Command Center is an integrated tool formonitoring and managing maintenance, operations and energy costs,as well as preparing for energy negotiations in a deregulatedutility market.

Sonat will be installing facilities today for tie-in of theSandy Hook Line to its system on the Franklinton-Gwinville lines inMississippi, which will require the shut-in of a total of 19 metersin the Hub, Sandy Hook and Dexter fields. The work is expected totake one day but may be extended if problems are encountered. Sonatalso reported beginning maintenance at the Muldon (MS) StorageField that will continue through Oct. 2. The pipeline declared aforce majeure in connection with the project but is not surewhether injection/withdrawal restrictions will be necessary for CSScustomers.

Despite stronger cash prices and the surprise formation of a newtropical system in the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend, natural gasfutures prices tumbled lower yesterday as traders continued toliquidate long positions. The October contract was the hardest hit,slipping 8.9 cents to finish at $2.519. With many Nymex localsobserving the Jewish Holiday Yom Kippur, estimated volume was heldto an extremely light 53,174 contracts.

Citing high linepack and storage limitations, Northwest said itis not allowing any on-system balancing or banking through the restof September. Both the Clay Basin and Jackson Prairie storagefacilities are nearly full even though the injection seasondeadline for 100% fills is Sept. 30, Northwest said. In addition,mainline capacity is “very limited” in accepting payback volumesdirectly to linepack, the pipeline added.

In an effort to deal with the serious decontracting problem onits pipeline system caused by the addition of Northern Border’sChicago expansion and the Alliance Pipeline project, TransCanadasaid last week it is strongly considering filing an applicationwith the National Energy Board this month to increase itsinterruptible and short-term firm transportation rates, somethingthe pipeline’s shippers almost certainly will oppose.

In an effort to deal with the serious decontracting problem onits pipeline system caused by the addition of Northern Border’sChicago expansion and the Alliance Pipeline project, TransCanadasaid last week it is strongly considering filing an applicationwith the National Energy Board this month to raise the floor pricefor interruptible and short-term firm transportation service,something the pipeline’s shippers almost certainly will oppose.

After previously estimating that an outage of most production onMatagorda Offshore Pipeline System due to a line leak would last untilnext Wednesday (see Daily GPI, Sept. 10), MOPS operator Northern NaturalGas said leak repairs were completed Friday morning, two days afterthe outage began. Only about 15 MMcf/d remained shut in, a spokesmansaid, and that was expected to be restored late Friday afternoon.

A Matagorda Offshore Pipeline System 24-inch line leak at theMustang Island 758 delivery point was confirmed Wednesday morning,causing the shut-in of 17 of the 24 producing blocks connected toMOPS. Shippers and operators were being notified around noonWednesday that the outage, affecting a total of 129,743 MMbtu/d,will last about seven days.