With a strengthening Hurricane Irene expected to bear down on the East Coast during the weekend, several natural gas pipeline companies and LNG facilities in the storm's path are cautiously waiting, but not yet taking any precautionary actions.
The hurricane, still days away, has prompted warnings from the US National Hurricane Center that Irene is expected to move north toward coastal North Carolina within the next 48 hours and potentially reach New York and New England by Monday.
But officials from several major pipelines and LNG facilities said no active measures are yet being taken in preparation for the storm's approach.
"Our operations are further up the East Coast, so I don't think we're expecting any sort of major effects," Spectra Energy spokeswoman Wendy Olson said. "Our standard response is to activate our hurricane response plan and make the necessary preparations to ensure the safety of our personnel and assets."
GDF Suez representative Julie Vitek said its operations at the Everett, Massachusetts, terminal near Boston are not expected to be affected and have not put out any kind of warnings as of yet. "At this point we are not making any changes to our shipping schedule," Vitek said.
Similarly, Repsol spokeswoman Mary Usovicz said the Canaport LNG facility in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, would not be affected at this point, although personnel are closely tracking the storm.
At least one pipeline has implemented some operational warnings to shippers in advance of Irene's US landfall.
Tennessee Gas Pipeline operator El Paso Corp. issued an imbalance warning effective Saturday, expecting limited operational flexibility for zones 4, 5, and 6 of the pipeline, which stretches from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts.
The company further said in the website posting that it had implemented its hurricane preparedness plan for its northern division, warning shippers to closely monitor notices on operational effects throughout the weekend.
