Up to 800 MMcf/d of capacity in northern Alberta has been impacted by two ruptures earlier this week about 15 kilometers apart on a 36-inch NOVA line (see Daily GPI, Dec. 3). Emphasizing they were only ballpark figures, a pipeline spokeswoman said the segment where the ruptures occurred usually flows 1 Bcf/d but has been restricted to about 200 MMcf/d. An unspecified amount of deliveries were affected, she said. That volume was hard to calculate because presumably customers may have been able to re-source gas elsewhere. Crews are working on the ruptures 24 hours a day, the spokeswoman said, but there is no prognosis yet on when full service will be restored. Pipeline ruptures are fairly rare anyway, she noted, so having two close together within a short time period is very rare. Investigators are evaluating the sites; at this point there are no suspicions of terrorism being involved, she said. In response to the ruptures, NOVA said Wednesday it is operating supplemental compression at Zama Lake to move additional flow from Segment 1 (UPRM) into Segment 3 (NWML). It also is moving additional supplemental compression into the area in order accommodate additional flow in Segments 1, 2, partial 5, 26 and 27. See the bulletin board for other actions and restrictions prompted by the ruptures.

Pacific Gas & Electric continued a systemwide Stage 2 high-inventory OFO into a second day Thursday, but loosened the tolerance for positive daily imbalances slightly from zero to 1%. Penalties remained at $1/Dth.

There was no supply or capacity impact on the Gulf South system when its 20-inch line connecting Eugene Island Blocks 57 and 32 offshore Louisiana was hit and ruptured by third-party equipment early Tuesday morning. The line serves two receipt points (SLN 12918 and 375) that do not currently have any scheduled volumes on Gulf South. The pipeline estimated that repairs will be completed within two weeks.

Florida Gas Transmission said Tuesday that full capacity at its Transco St. Helena interconnect in South Louisiana is now estimated to become available Dec. 16. Unscheduled maintenance on a compressor, restricting the interconnect to 15,000 MMBtu/d, began Nov. 26 and was expected to be completed in seven or eight days at the time (see Daily GPI, Dec. 1).

Tennessee had expected an outage of its 526A-600 Line off southeastern Louisiana to last about 10 days when it began about a month ago (see Daily GPI, Nov. 4). After announcing a mid-month delay (see Daily GPI, Nov. 17), the pipeline said Tuesday the work was complete and service had been restored at six affected meters.

Matagorda Offshore Pipeline System will be pigged from the Matagorda Block 758 platform to Tivoli Station onshore Texas beginning Thursday and continuing until further notice. Depending on the amount of liquids received, up to 150,000 Dth/d of flow could be affected.

NOVA cited decreasing soil and ambient temperatures in announcing that it requires an increase in target linepack. It is requesting unconditional tenders (due by 1 p.m. MST Dec. 8) for the firm purchase of 390,000 gigajoules, to be delivered via inventory transfer over a period of up to eight days starting on or around Dec. 17. , 2003. The price will be in the form of a differential to a published intra-Alberta index. See the bulletin board for details, or call Jeff Stoffregen at (403) 920-6337 or George Phillips at -6825.

©Copyright 2003 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.