Infrastructure

Last weekend’s natural gas supply emergency that gripped parts of the Canadian province Manitoba, as well as Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota, was coming to an end Tuesday as TransCanada Pipeline crews continued working to repair sections of a Mainline lateral that were damaged by an explosion Saturday.

An early Saturday morning explosion and fire on a lateral of the TransCanada Mainline in Manitoba left thousands without natural gas service amid freezing temperatures and prompted the closing of some schools in the region, according to pipeline notices and media reports.

A seismic shift in the Northeast natural gas market likely will lead to substantial and broad-based seasonal price differentials all the way to Western Canada, Raymond James Inc. analysts said Monday.

Dominion Transmission (DTI) on Monday estimated North-to-South capacity for nominations on its system for Feb. 1 at 850,000 Dth/d. The volume may be adjusted “on a daily or periodic basis as required by operational conditions,” the company said in an informational posting.

The latest estimates from several sources indicate that fossil fuel subsidies globally are growing, ranging from $523 billion to more than $1.9 trillion, according to a Worldwatch Institute research fellow. Subsidy levels have rebounded back to 2008 levels, according to Philipp Tagwerker.

A 28-year-old trade alliance is breaking up over TransCanada Corp.’s program for increasing imports of natural gas from the United States into Ontario and Quebec by raising capacity on eastern legs of its Mainline.

Flooded with natural gas from the Marcellus Shale and stung by the demands of this month’s repeat appearances of the polar vortex, Dominion Transmission (DTI) said it will limit north-south nominations on its system beginning no later than Feb. 1.

Moving forward with their agreement to work together with the Independent System Operator of New England (ISO New England) to diversify the region’s energy supply portfolio, the governors of six New England states are calling on the grid operator to provide technical support and assistance with necessary tariff filings for new electric and natural gas infrastructure.

Consolidated Edison Co. of New York Inc. (ConEd), a unit of Consolidated Edison Inc., said Thursday that nearly 1,300 large buildings in New York City converted from oil to natural gas for heating purposes in 2013, a more than 50% increase over the preceding year.