alliance announces another delay until november 13 alliance deliveries delayed until nov . 13
in a move that is likely to send ripples through the market , particularly
around chicago , the 1 . 325 bcf / d alliance pipeline extended its commercial
in - service delay last week to nov . 13 from oct . 30 . pipeline officials said
moisture and debris in the line caused the delay .
" as we have increased the flow of test gas volumes during our system
commissioning , we have encountered moisture and debris from construction , "
said ceo norm gish . " specifically , most of the debris is in the form of small
pieces of foam from the [ smart ] pigs that were used to remove the hydrostatic
testing water from the line . the problem forced us to shut down the system
for short periods of time to clean out accumulated debris .
" we have since designed and installed additional in - line screens at our
compressor stations . the situation is improving and we are removing
ever - decreasing amounts of debris with increased flows of test gas . however ,
this situation has not permitted us to run our system with the significant
volumes necessary to adequately test the reliability of our compressors . "
it is the second time alliance has had to delay its in - service date . in early
september , alliance officials said rain in saskatchewan this summer ,
directional drilling problems at a creek in british columbia , complex
connection problems with the aux sable liquids plant in illinois and
connection delays with several u . s . pipelines and ldcs was to blame for a
one - month delay to oct . 30 ( see daily gpi , sept . 11 ) .
the pipeline will continue increasing test volumes until it begins commercial
service , said gish . there currently is about 500 mmcf / d of test gas in the
line . he expects firm delivery capacity to reach the full 1 . 325 bcf / d prior
to nov . 13 .
alliance officials also noted that this is the first time a pipeline the size
of alliance has been brought on stream at one time .
regardless of the challenge , however , market participants were expecting the
system to be delivering gas starting at the beginning of the month of
november and this delay is likely to have a significant impact on november
bidweek trading .
one chicago trader said he had a strong suspicion something was fishy when
his index offers were lifted friday afternoon by a marketing company , which
he knows to own capacity on the pipe . " everyone was a buyer of index gas
today for november , especially those now short for the first 13 days . i sold
mine at ngi plus 1 . 5 , but had i known that alliance was delayed i would have
held out for something a little better . "
basis , meanwhile , was pretty much unchanged at + 13 to + 14 for november . " it
takes a lot to move the chicago basis , " he said .
alliance announces another delay until november 13
alliance deliveries delayed until nov . 13
in a move that is likely to send ripples through the market , particularly
around chicago , the 1 . 325 bcf / d alliance pipeline extended its commercial
in - service delay last week to nov . 13 from oct . 30 . pipeline officials said
moisture and debris in the line caused the delay .
" as we have increased the flow of test gas volumes during our system
commissioning , we have encountered moisture and debris from construction , "
said ceo norm gish . " specifically , most of the debris is in the form of small
pieces of foam from the [ smart ] pigs that were used to remove the hydrostatic
testing water from the line . the problem forced us to shut down the system
for short periods of time to clean out accumulated debris .
" we have since designed and installed additional in - line screens at our
compressor stations . the situation is improving and we are removing
ever - decreasing amounts of debris with increased flows of test gas . however ,
this situation has not permitted us to run our system with the significant
volumes necessary to adequately test the reliability of our compressors . "
it is the second time alliance has had to delay its in - service date . in early
september , alliance officials said rain in saskatchewan this summer ,
directional drilling problems at a creek in british columbia , complex
connection problems with the aux sable liquids plant in illinois and
connection delays with several u . s . pipelines and ldcs was to blame for a
one - month delay to oct . 30 ( see daily gpi , sept . 11 ) .
the pipeline will continue increasing test volumes until it begins commercial
service , said gish . there currently is about 500 mmcf / d of test gas in the
line . he expects firm delivery capacity to reach the full 1 . 325 bcf / d prior
to nov . 13 .
alliance officials also noted that this is the first time a pipeline the size
of alliance has been brought on stream at one time .
regardless of the challenge , however , market participants were expecting the
system to be delivering gas starting at the beginning of the month of
november and this delay is likely to have a significant impact on november
bidweek trading .
one chicago trader said he had a strong suspicion something was fishy when
his index offers were lifted friday afternoon by a marketing company , which
he knows to own capacity on the pipe . " everyone was a buyer of index gas
today for november , especially those now short for the first 13 days . i sold
mine at ngi plus 1 . 5 , but had i known that alliance was delayed i would have
held out for something a little better . "
basis , meanwhile , was pretty much unchanged at + 13 to + 14 for november . " it
takes a lot to move the chicago basis , " he said .