Upstream

Northern Natural Gas declared a force majeure situation Thursday after detecting a leak upstream of the Plains Turbine on the Hobbs 26 suction line. The segment containing the leak must be isolated to facilitate repairs, which will require shutting in the Altura Gaines receipt point, Northern said. Upon isolating the affected area, eight other receipt points and four delivery points could be impacted and/or allocated, it added. See the bulletin board for further details.

Tennessee said it is experiencing hydrocarbon dew point (HDP) temperatures in excess of its 20-degree limit upstream of Station 87 (Portland, TN) due to high levels of hydrocarbons in deliveries into the 500 Line and the limited ability of the Yscloskey Processing Plant to sufficiently process that gas. Targa Midstream, operator of the Yscloskey facility, has informed Tennessee that the plant should be back to full operation by mid to late May. As alternatives to imposing further corrective actions, Tennessee said it is exploring various short-term operational options that may allow continued flows in the affected area in a safe and reliable manner. However, Tennessee asked shippers and producers to consider what steps they may take voluntarily to conform deliveries into the 500 Line, including but not limited to seeking additional processing alternatives such as deliveries to the Toca and/or Discovery processing plants. “Tennessee strongly encourages customers to make these processing arrangements to ensure deliveries into the pipeline system will conform to Tennessee’s posted HDP limit,” the pipeline said. If HDP temperatures are not sufficiently lowered, Tennessee said it will initiate further corrective action to protect operational integrity.

A force majeure was declared Wednesday on the Matagorda Offshore Pipeline System (MOPS) after MOPS operator Northern Natural Gas detected a leak upstream of the Matagorda 686 platform. Crews were en route to investigate and make repairs as necessary, NNG said. Thirteen receipt point meters have been allocated to zero until repairs are completed.

ANR has increased Patterson-to-Eunice delivery capacity in South Louisiana to 650,000 Dth/d, available through Feb. 28. Due to insufficient supply upstream of the Patterson Compressor Station, which affects ANR’s ability to properly load compression, interconnects between Patterson and the Eunice Compressor Station may experience lower than normal line pressures. Based on current nominations, it is anticipated that the reduction will result in the curtailment of IT nominations.

NGPL said its Gulf Coast system was at capacity Tuesday for northbound flow upstream and through Station 309 (Segment 27), and ITS/AOR transportation was at risk of not getting fully scheduled. Based on anticipated level of high nominations due to the cold weather in the Market Delivery Zone the availability of this service is extremely unlikely, the pipeline said. Secondary out-of-path transportation is at risk of not getting fully scheduled on Wednesday, it added. It will be requiring withdrawals from NSS to be on an in-the-path transportation.

Columbia Gulf reported discovering a leak on its 20-inch line upstream of the Eugene Island 250 platform in the Block 264 area. It said Eugene Island 331B, 314B, 314C, 314A and 271, where Columbia Gulf and Tennessee both have meters, and Eugene Island 294A, 338A, 315A and 316A, where Tennessee has the sole meter, will be required to shut in once repairs begin. No timetable for the repair startup had been set as of Friday afternoon, a spokesman said.

Royal Dutch Shell Co. expects to restore about 60% of its total upstream production to pre-Hurricane Katrina levels during the fourth quarter, or 270,000 boe/d compared to 450,000 boe/d, but warned remaining Gulf of Mexico oil and natural gas production, mainly from its prolific Mars platform, related Ursa unit and the Mensa and Cognac developments, “may not be feasible during the fourth quarter, depending on options available for recovery.” Shell’s output now stands at 160,000 boe/d.

Tennessee Gas maintained an operational flow order for Wednesday due to nominations in excess of available capacity in Zone 0 and at Niagara. It placed restrictions on deliveries to Station 40 and at its Niagara River Meter. Tennessee also said it will not accept any increases pathed through MLV 528, excluding the header on the Bluewater system and the TTT line 523M-2300 from Eugene Island 365 to Ship Shoal 198. It restricted flow through Station 834. For details see its pipeline bulletin board. Tennessee also confirmed leaks on its 26-inch diameter pipeline at Ship Shoal 157 and Ship Shoal 144. Divers are assessing the damage. Its mainline valve 528 remains shut in due to water at the Port Sulphur Compressor Station (Station 527). It also incurred damage in the South Timbalier area on several lines (524J-100, 524J-600, and 524J-800) and has leaks on the 524C-100 line and the 524C-600 line. Tennessee said it has survey boats inspecting the West Delta, South Pass, and Main Pass areas. It determined that the meters on the Blue Water Header (from Vermillion 245 to Ship Shoal 198) as well as the TTT line 523M-2300 (from Eugene Island 365 to Ship Shoal 198) are available and can begin flowing. The east leg of the Blue Water system remains shut-in. Therefore, gas that would typically be processed at the Yscloskey processing plant will now be flowing on the Blue Water header in a westerly direction and will require processing at the Blue Water Plant. Producers flowing on this portion of the Blue Water system with a hydrocarbon dew point greater than 20 degrees must sign a processing agreement with the Blue Water plant immediately.

Larger upstream producers in Canada benefited from strong prices and healthy production levels in 1Q2005, which in turn should help the country’s energy industry meet its natural gas and oil output targets this year, according to a report by Standard & Poor’s (S&P).