Tests

Encouraged by the results of recent market tests, El Paso Natural Gas announced two binding open seasons last week for 400-500 MMcf/d of firm transportation capacity on a bi-directional lateral it plans to add to its system within California. It also plans to announce soon additional binding open seasons to expand its mainline.

After months of planning and market tests for a proposed expansion of its gas storage facility in Butte County, CA, Wild Goose Storage Inc., a subsidiary of Alberta Energy Co. Ltd., filed an application with the California Public Utilities Commission yesterday to double the field’s size and triple the withdrawal capacity.

Encouraged by the results of recent market tests, El Paso Natural Gas announced two binding open seasons yesterday for 400-500 MMcf/d of firm transportation capacity on a bi-directional lateral it plans to add to its system within California. It also plans to announce soon additional binding open seasons to expand its mainline.

Along with the specter of rolling blackouts caused by powersupply shortages in California during peak-demand periods thissummer, the state’s increasingly constrained natural gas pipelineinfrastructure may be bogged down by peak load demands running asmuch as 2 Bcf/d over system capacity, an energy teleconference wastold Wednesday. At stake are billions of dollars of extra coststhat could be caused as much by natural gas constraints as byshortages of megawatts.

El Paso Natural Gas apparently got the message when its lastopen season for 1.2 Bcf/d of firm transportation capacity attractedbids for 14.4 Bcf/d. The pipeline has announced an open season totest market interest in a mainline expansion and to satisfyregulatory concerns that something needs to be done to relieve theapparent capacity constraint at the California border.

Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line is holding an open season on yetanother proposed mainline expansion project designed to serve theeastern seaboard. The open season will run from Aug. 31 to Sept. 29for shippers interested in incremental annual firm transportationservice to be created by the Momentum Expansion Project.

Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line is holding an open season on yetanother proposed mainline expansion project designed to serve theeastern seaboard. The open season will run from Aug. 31 to Sept. 29for shippers interested in incremental annual firm transportationservice to be created by the Momentum Expansion Project.

The Department of Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safetyreported yesterday that El Paso Natural Gas has submitted theresults of its tests on the one line (Line 1110) that was the leastaffected by the Aug. 19 explosion and fire on El Paso’s South Mainsystem, as well as a plan for returning the line back to operation.

Energy powerhouse Enron decided to test its mettle once againlast week, offering British metals trader MG Plc $4.46 per sharecash offer in its bid to enter a new marketplace. The bid values MGat $445 million (300 million pounds sterling).