Union Gas said the Dawn gas market hub in Ontario set newrecords in 2000 for the volume and number of title transfers. Thehub recorded over 2.7 Tcf of title transfers last year, more thandouble the 1999 total of 1.3 Tcf. On average about 7.6 Bcf/d of gaschanged hands up from 3.7 Bcf in 1999.

Recent title transfer activity suggests even stronger growth in2001, Union said. Title transfers registered in November andDecember totaled 823 Bcf, an average of 13.4 Bcf/d, which was morethan two and a half times greater than the same period in 1999.

Union attributed the changes to increasing market volatility,increasing volumes traded by online systems like EnronOnline andNGX, and the addition of 8 Bcf of storage in 1999 and 2000. TheDawn Hub also is at the end point of a major new interstatepipeline, the 700 MMcf/d Vector Pipeline.

A decision by Union to allow in-franchise industrial customersto deliver some of their gas to Dawn instead of just Parkway (theeastern interconnect on the Union system) also seems to havespurred the large upswing in market activity at the end of theyear, the company said.

Dawn storage has a working capacity of over 140 Bcf and candeliver over 2 Bcf/d. Located south of Sarnia, ON, it is thelargest natural gas storage facility in Canada. With six pipelineinterconnects – three of which are with TransCanada – Union Gas haseasy access to 15 pipeline and distribution companies. The workingcapacity of all the storage near Dawn is about 235 Bcf.

©Copyright 2001 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. Thepreceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, inwhole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent ofIntelligence Press, Inc.