Withdrawals

Citing low linepack and maximum withdrawals at its Washington Ranch storage facility, El Paso declared an Unauthorized Overpull Penalty situation Sunday. The OFO was being lifted Tuesday afternoon, a spokeswoman said.

Moderating weather, low storage withdrawals and price-negative technicals were more than natural gas traders could handle last week as they increased their short positions and pressured prices to new lows. The February contract was the hardest hit by the selling, shedding 50 cents last week to carve out a new life-of-contract low at $2.25. Even a slim 0.7-cent gain to $2.275 on Friday, did little to dissuade the bears who look for more weakness this week.

Saying it was experiencing maximum withdrawals at the Washington Ranch storage facility, El Paso declared an Unauthorized Overpull Penalty situation Wednesday morning due to low linepack. Because of the OFO and high system demand, a maintenance shutdown of Line 1100 upstream of Guadalupe Station that had been scheduled for today was postponed until further notice.

Reporting that its Washington Ranch Storage Field was experiencing maximum withdrawals, El Paso declared an Unauthorized Overpull Penalty situation Tuesday. It urged shippers to review their supply/demand balances and the performance of their suppliers to insure that sufficient gas is delivered to El Paso to cover the gas being taken off-system. The pipeline said it will limit scheduled volumes at underperforming interconnects.

Reporting that its Washington Ranch Storage Field was experiencing maximum withdrawals, El Paso declared an Unauthorized Overpull Penalty situation Tuesday. It urged shippers to review their supply/demand balances and the performance of their suppliers to ensure that sufficient gas is delivered to El Paso to cover the gas being taken off-system. The pipeline said it will limit scheduled volumes at underperforming interconnects.

Amid mild weather forecasts and on the heels of another in astring of relatively small storage withdrawals, natural gas futuresprices tumbled lower yesterday as traders continued to liquidatelong positions. The selling was seen in two distinct surges —first on the open as traders increased their activity as pricesdipped to new 3-month lows and then again shortly after the releaseof fresh storage news, when the prompt March contract free-fell 15cents lower from 2:00 to 2:05 p.m. (EST). The March contract closedat $5.146, down 13.2 cents for the session.

Saying its Washington Ranch Storage Field was experiencingmaximum withdrawals, El Paso declared an Unauthorized OverpullPenalty situation Thursday, effective until further notice. Thepipeline will limit scheduled volumes at interconnects that areunderperforming.

Saying its Washington Ranch Storage Field was experiencingmaximum withdrawals, El Paso declared an Unauthorized OverpullPenalty situation effective Thursday until further notice. Thepipeline said it would limit scheduled volumes at underperforminginterconnects to insure system integrity.

El Paso will will allow neither injections nor withdrawals whenit shuts in the Washington Ranch storage facility April 19-25 formaintenance. Saying the project will severely limit its flexibilityin controlling linepack, El Paso asked in advance for customercooperation in “balancing very closely” scheduled receipts anddeliveries.