Several major natural gas pipelines in the US Northeast appear to have weathered Hurricane Irene thus far, though at least one operator said flooding may cause some issues after the storm has passed.
Tennessee Gas Pipeline operator El Paso reported on Sunday that it was investigating a possible issue with a flow regulator on its 300 Line in Westchester County, New York, due to flooding in the area.
"We're working on that right now and rerouting flows to handle it," El Paso representative Richard Wheatley said. "Other than that we are holding our own. There are sporadic areas that have some flooding issues that we are monitoring due to the heavy rain."
A website posting by El Paso said flows are being rerouted to the 200 Line at compressor station 261 at Agawam, Massachusetts, into the 300 Line downstream of the regulator issue at main line valve 334 to meet demand. The pipeline company said it did not anticipate any restrictions from this event.
Similarly, Iroquois Gas Transmission representative Ruth Parkins said low-lying areas along the pipeline's route were being watched closely for issues, though no problems have yet surfaced. The line runs mainly through New York state.
"The heavy rain was widespread throughout the area, but there have been no signs of any issues. Our backup generators kicked in as planned and prepared and our personnel continues to check on those facilities," she said.
A check of natural gas pipelines throughout the Northeast area showed no notices of service interruptions or other issues.
Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line operator Williams said in a website posting that it had limited operational flexibility to manage imbalances due to the drop in demand from the storm. The pipeline urged shippers to ensure flowing supplies have real markets to take the supplies, as long positions on the pipeline or low burn conditions may be reversing a short overall imbalance position.
Due to the shift, effective Monday the pipeline will not allow any due-from-shipper imbalances or excess storage injections.
