Ladyfern - Timely
Connection
| Spanning
the border of Northeast British Columbia and Northwestern
Alberta, the Ladyfern area has been a hot topic in the natural
gas industry. With the ultimate potential of Ladyfern reserves
still to be determined, industry analysts estimate it could
contain as much as one trillion cubic feet of gas, making
Ladyfern the biggest gas find in Western Canada in the past
15 years. |
 |
The Globe
and Mail newspaper featured Ladyfern in its Report On Business
on July 9, citing the quick connection of gas to existing pipeline
systems as a reason for the area's success. "In today's volatile
natural gas market, factors such as speed of development and proximity
to pipelines shouldn't be underestimated," said David Parkinson,
a business reporter for the newspaper. And indeed, TransCanada
has worked diligently with Ladyfern producers, Murphy Oil, Apache
Canada, AEC, and CNRL, to ensure that over 80% of Ladyfern production
is directed into TransCanada's Alberta System transmission facilities,
and that it is connected in a "just in time" fashion in step with
producers' plans.
According
to TransCanada Producer Team Manager John Dunn, the Ladyfern area
is currently producing approximately 500 mmcf/d, with the potential
to produce significantly more by 2002. On an annualized basis,
Ladyfern has contributed approximately 350 mmcf/d to the total
2001 WCSB supply growth. TransCanada estimates total supply growth
for 2001 to be in the 500 to 600 mmcf/d range. Total flow on TransCanada's
Upper and Central Peace River Design Sub-Areas in the northwest
part of the province now exceeds 2 bcf/d and planned system expansion
for spring 2002 will grow that number to approximately 2.6 bcf/d.
Adds John, "I can't think of too many pipeline systems that have
TransCanada's capability to accommodate these types of volumes
in such a short period of time. To me it really drives home just
how robust and extremely well positioned our transmissions assets
are."
TransCanada's
planned expansion in the area for spring 2002 is also very economical.
The estimated capital cost will be approximately $73 million and
add about 500 mmcf/d of new capacity. Says Producer Team Manager,
Dave Schultz, "Our System Design group has worked diligently to
optimize the expansion, and keep costs low. The four compression
additions required for the expansion are actually relocations
from other parts of the Alberta System where, unlike the northwest
part of the province, we are seeing lower utilization rates and
production declines".
Al Jamal,
TransCanada's Manager of Gas Supply, has been monitoring the overall
impact of Ladyfern and Northwest supply growth on total WCSB production.
"Ladyfern is a great supply success story, however apart from
Ladyfern there has been modest supply growth in the WCSB in the
last year," says Al. "To put things in perspective, roughly 20
Ladyfern wells have so far added roughly 350 mmcf/d while another
10,000 gas wells elsewhere have added only 200 to 300 mmcf/d to
the 2001 WCSB production growth estimate. Even with robust production
growth from Ladyfern, we continue to be on track with our projection
of 0.9 to 1.1 bcf/d of WCSB production growth by 2002 over the
2000 levels."
For more
information on this story, please contact John
Dunn
at (403) 920-5566, e-mail john_dunn@transcanada.com, or Dave
Schultz
at (403) 920-5574, e-mail dave_schultz@transcanada.com.
View the Globe and Mail article in the online version
of Update.
Fort
Saskatchewan - Delivering a Supply
Alternative
 |
The industrial corridor of
Fort Saskatchewan and surrounding area is one of the fastest
growing gas markets in the country, with projected growth
of approximately 500 million cubic feet in the next five
years.
Many companies in the area
use natural gas as a feedstock for their production processes
or as fuel for power plants. With recently added production
capacity and proposed expansions, these companies require
an additional supply of natural gas.
"Customers have been eager
for an alternative supply choice in Fort Saskatchewan for
some time now and appreciate a timely competitive solution,"
says Don Bell, Manager, Western Sales, TransCanada PipeLines.
"We have an opportunity to provide this solution to the
Fort Saskatchewan area, one of the hottest natural gas markets
in the country."
|
TransCanada is proposing to extend
the Fort Saskatchewan Mainline of its Alberta System to provide
customers, with an alternative supply choice to the Fort Saskatchewan
market. As well, this extension has potential benefits for all
Alberta System customers such as increasing the general attachment
of supply on the Alberta system, which could reduce tolls for
all customers.
TransCanada has executed agreements
with three customers in the Fort Saskatchewan area for approximately
175 mmcf/d of firm service transportation. TransCanada plans to
file an application this summer with the Alberta Energy and Utilities
Board (EUB). The proposal will include a 70 kilometre extension
of 20-inch pipe from the Alberta System into the Fort Saskatchewan
area.
The expected completion of the pipeline
extension into Fort Saskatchewan is May 1, 2002, pending regulatory
approvals.
For more information, please contact Don
Bell at (403) 920-5560, e-mail don_bell@transcanada.com or Brent
Diemert at (403) 920-5567, e-mail brent_diemert@transcanada.com.
Ebilling on the Mainline - "Things
just got easier"
 |
TransCanada
is continually striving to make things easier for our customers.
Ebilling, which has been available on the Alberta system
since October 2000, will soon be available on the Canadian
Mainline system. Mainline customers will have the ability
to view, print and forward their TransCanada invoice as
well as download them into Excel.
Additionally,
customers will have access to the billing backup reports
that can be downloaded and emailed to others. As TransCanada
publishes the invoices and reports for ebilling, customers
will soon have the ability to view the historical information
for up to one year online.
|
Ebilling
is an alternative way for customers to access and handle their
account information. The many benefits of ebilling include:
Lower
Administrative Costs
- Reduce
manual data entry
- Download
data to a gas marketing system or Excel
- Delivery
of invoice is not dependent on external sources (i.e. courier,
Canada Post)
Convenience
- Access
to information faster
- Access
to invoices online
- Access
to billing backup reports online
- Ability
to send the invoice or portions of it directly to other people
Other
- More
environmentally friendly - reduce paper, by using the information
online
Customers
can contact their company's NrG Administrator to assign them access
to the ebilling service. The ebilling service for the Mainline
is available through:
- www.transcanada.com/mainline/customeracct/index.html
- DENISE CHECKING
- www.nrgexpressway.com/tcpl/index.htm
TransCanada
is committed to providing a quality online invoice service for
their customers. Any suggestions for future enhancements are welcomed.
Please send your comments to online_billing@transcanada.com or
contact Denise Morey at (403) 920-5516, e-mail denise_morey@transcanada.com.
Alberta
System Aligns Commodity and Demand
With TransCanada developing a new
gas management system and implementing numerous process improvements,
customers were provided with an opportunity to align the commodity
and demand for invoicing and reporting purposes. With the current
process, an invoice dated the 20th of a month contains demand
charges from the previous month and commodity charges from the
month previous to the demand month.
In order to accomplish the alignment,
industry had to adopt a new calendar (view online) that establishes
timelines for the reporting of data. At the July 10, 2001 Tolls,
Tariff & Procedures Committee (TTP) meeting, customers agreed to
implement a new industry calendar for:
-
the distribution of Alberta System month end receipt measurement
-
the reporting of Common Stream Operator (CSO) month end receipt
allocations
-
the distribution of Alberta System gas balances
-
the distribution of Alberta System invoices
The
new industry calendar works backward from the industry pay day
and contains the following guidelines:
-
Distributes invoices two and half work days prior to industry
pay day
-
Provides TransCanada two work days to prepare and distribute
invoices after finalizing monthly gas balances
- Provides
TransCanada two work days to prepare and distribute monthly
gas balances after receiving month end receipt allocations from
CSO's
- Continues
to provide CSO's adequate time to complete and report month
end receipt allocations
-
Distributes receipt measurement on the fifth work day of each
month
"Customers
have requested that the commodity and demand be invoiced for the
same month, but the current industry calendar and information
systems did not support the alignment. The new industry calendar
and systems will allow for TransCanada to invoice for a month's
commodity and demand on the same invoice, making it more convenient
for the customer," said Grant Gilbert, Senior Analyst with TransCanada.
The
commodity and demand alignment as well as the new industry calendar
are targeted for a January 2003 implementation, conditional on
TransCanada having the required information systems available.
In
future years, TransCanada will work with industry representatives,
as it has in the past, to finalize the annual industry calendar
using the guidelines from the approved resolution.
For
information on the commodity and demand alignment or industry
calendar, please contact Grant Gilbert
at (403) 920-5395, e-mail grant_gilbert@transcanada.com. For information
on the TTP process, please contact Dave Hands
at (403) 920-5838, e-mail dave_hands@transcanada.com.
Organization
Announcements
for Customer Sales and Service
" I would
like to announce some organizational changes that have recently
taken place with respect to my leadership team. I would like to
acknowledge the dedication and excellent work of Jeff Rush and
Dave Cornies in their roles of serving our customers and wish
them all the best as they pursue new opportunities.
As well,
I welcome Steve Clark and John Van der Put to our team and look
forward to their contribution in helping TransCanada deliver timely
and cost effective solutions to our customers."
Max Feldman,
Senior Vice-President, Customer Sales and Service
Jeff Rush
- Jeff's previous role was leading the Sales and Marketing group
for TransCanada's Alberta, B.C. and Canadian Mainline pipeline
systems. He now assumes responsibility for TransCanada's initiative
to build a Mackenzie Valley pipeline. Jeff will also manage TransCanada's
position in Tuscarora Pipeline and other gas development activities
in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. In addition,
he will manage existing and future initiatives associated with
TransCanada PipeLine Ventures. Jeff can be reached at [403] 920-5819.
Steve
Clark - Steve assumes Jeff Rush's former role in leading the
Sales and Marketing group. He will continue to play an important
role in certain western business development initiatives. Steve
can be reached at [403] 920-2018.
Dave Cornies
- Dave's previous role was leading the System Design group. He
will take on a transitionary role, focusing on several special
assignments, including the evaluation of TransCanada's northern
development transportation strategy, key regulatory proceedings
and facility expansions. Dave can be reached at [403] 920-5104.
John Van
der Put - John assumes Dave Cornies' former role, leading
the System Design group. His previous role was in TransCanada's
Strategy and Planning group. John can be reached at [403] 920-2023.
