Transco

Saying it anticipates “significant market load in conjunction with below-normal temperatures forecast for most of its market area,” starting Tuesday Transco will not allow any nominations to resolve due-shipper imbalances until further notice. Due-pipeline makeup nominations will be allowed, the pipeline said.

Gains handily outweighed losses in mixed price movement Monday while an ice storm continued to rage through the central U.S. Transco’s Zone 6-New York City pool and Iroquois Zone 2 spiked by about $1.50 to as high as $14.00 and $13.75, respectively, as very cold and weather was expected to remain in place Tuesday across the northern half of the U.S. and Canada.

Florida Gas Transmission did not extend an Overage Alert Day beyond Tuesday.

Despite continuing extreme cold in the Northeast, spot prices sharply reversed course Tuesday with Transco Zone 6 New York dumping more than $24 to end the day with an average slightly less than $16. Other Northeast locations were off $2-$5.75 into the $9-12 range.

A gain of nearly a dime at Transco Station 30 and a flat Florida citygate were the only exceptions to prices continuing to fall Friday. The decline of industrial load that accompanies a weekend was added to the established list of bearish market influences — moderate to cool weather in almost every area, a prior-day screen drop, increasingly negative storage issues and a benign (so far) hurricane season for Gulf of Mexico production.

As a result of market-area temperatures changing dramatically “with significantly below normal temperatures expected for the next several days,” Transco ended Thursday an Imbalance OFO that had been implemented Tuesday (see Daily GPI, Nov. 15).

Transco issued an Imbalance OFO with 5% tolerance for positive imbalances, effective Tuesday until further notice. The pipeline noted that it has provided repeated notice of limited operating flexibility as a result of moderate temperatures throughout its market area, but continued to experience “an unacceptable increase” in due-shipper imbalances since it ended an Operational Control Friday (see Daily GPI, Nov. 14). “This has created exigent circumstances that require immediate action,” it said. Customers with daily due-pipeline imbalance will not be subject to penalty.

Southern California Gas extended Saturday’s high-linepack OFO through Sunday before lifting it Monday.

Pacific Gas & Electric did not extend a systemwide Stage 2 high-inventory OFO beyond Wednesday.