Texas

El Paso Corp. will pay Mirant Corp. $87.5 million as part of a settlement agreement approved this week by the Texas bankruptcy court overseeing Mirant’s Chapter 11 case. Mirant’s bankruptcy led to a default on a master netting agreement between the two companies, which had hundreds of open trading positions.

El Paso Corp. will pay Mirant Corp. $87.5 million as part of a settlement agreement approved this week by the Texas bankruptcy court overseeing Mirant’s Chapter 11 case. Mirant’s bankruptcy led to a default on a master netting agreement between the two companies, which had hundreds of open trading positions.

The liquids level at the Tivoli Plant onshore Texas from a Matagorda Offshore Pipeline System pigging operation had receded to the point that all scheduled nominations were being accepted for Tuesday’s Intraday 2 cycle, MOPS operator Northern Natural Gas said. The pipeline was forced to shut down Sunday due to excess liquids being received at Tivoli (see Daily GPI, Dec. 23). According to an NNG spokesman, “We were able to get rid of the liquids faster than expected, and there are no remaining constraints on MOPS.” Florida Gas Transmission resumed taking deliveries from MOPS at their interconnect in Matagorda County, TX effective with the Intraday 2 cycle for Tuesday’s gas day and for Wednesday’s evening cycle. Another MOPS pigging is scheduled for Dec. 26-31.

Oneok said it completed a $240 million purchase of East Texas gas and oil properties and related gathering systems from Wagner & Brown Ltd. of Midland, TX. The deal gives Oneok an additional 177 Bcfe of proved reserves with a reserves-to-production index of 12.4 years. The transaction was financed through short-term borrowings. Over the long term, Oneok will finance this transaction with available cash, the issuance of equity or a combination of both. “This transaction not only expands the Oneok footprint, but it reinforces the Oneok strategy of owning and controlling reserves,” said Oneok Chairman David Kyle.

Due to an excessive amount of liquids received at the Tivoli Plant onshore Texas Sunday morning, the Matagorda Offshore Pipeline System was shut in that day and all receipts and deliveries were scheduled to zero. Return to service is expected by Tuesday, MOPS operator Northern Natural Gas said; it had expected to finish a scheduled pigging project Sunday (see Daily GPI, Dec. 18). Florida Gas Transmission took its scheduled deliveries from MOPS at their interconnect in Matagorda County, TX to zero for Sunday’s gas day and until further notice.

ANR is not accepting nominations at the French Lick (IN) Meter Station, an interconnect with Texas Eastern, until further notice. The station has been shut in due to measurement problems, ANR said Friday.

Third-party abandonment and removal of the Brazos Block A-20 platform offshore Texas will require Transco to reconfigure and reroute the line that currently boards and departs from the platform. The project is currently scheduled to begin on or about Nov. 14 and is estimated to last for 30 days. During this period, production from the Brazos A-23, A-19 and 544 blocks will not be available for flow to Transco.

Gulf South said Tuesday that unscheduled maintenance on Index 129 (Agua Dulce 24-inch line in South Texas) has been extended until further notice and that capacity through the Refugio Compressor Station will continue to be affected by as much as 50 MMcf/d. The original posting on the work anticipated that it would be completed Oct. 17 (see Daily GPI, Oct. 6).

Natural gas spot prices were mixed on Thursday with some points up more than 15 cents while others were down a dime in an unclear response to the EIA’s report of an 81 Bcf injection into gas storage facilities last week, a storage number that was in line with most expectations.