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Chugach responds to contract challenges Says Enstar and Beluga Pipe Line misunderstood the terms of a contract with Aurora to replace gas pulled during compressor trips Eric Lidji Petroleum News
Chugach Electric Association responded on May 14 to challenges that its proposed “Replacement Gas Contract” with Aurora Gas doesn’t sufficiently cover gas draws.
The proposed contract supplies Chugach with gas to replace volumes it takes from the Beluga Pipeline during a compressor trip. Under the contract, Aurora would supply Chugach with up to 700,000 cubic feet of gas within 24 hours of each incident.
Chugach takes gas from the Beluga Pipeline to avoid a system outage.
The contract is separate from a larger and longer-term contract with ConocoPhillips.
Beluga Pipe Line Co., which owns the line, said it needed gas taken from the pipeline to be replaced as it is being drawn in order to avoid a system outage of its own. Chugach said it has tried to lessen the impact of compressor trips with automation that limits the time and quantities of gas pulled from the line, and with the replacement contract.
The gas Chugach pulls comes from the Beluga Pipeline “line pack” or the gas inside the pipeline at any given time. The Beluga Pipeline, owned by Marathon, runs from the Cook Inlet Gas Gathering System, or CIGGS, at Granite Point, north to the Beluga River field.
Companies question language Beluga Pipe Line and Enstar said that while Chugach claimed in a letter to the RCA that the proposed contract obligates Aurora to provide gas, the language of the contract itself contains potential loopholes that could allow Aurora to get out of that obligation.
Chugach refuted this claim, saying the contract calls for up to 700,000 cubic feet for each event.
Enstar also said the proposed contract didn’t make enough gas available, saying recent reports indicated Chugach needs between 34 million and 46 million cubic feet for a trip.
Chugach said Enstar was calculating rates, not actual volumes. “While the rates per day relied on by Enstar may appear high, these draws typically last no more than a few minutes and the rates themselves are not constant,” Chugach said, citing three recent compressor trips that required the utility to pull between 55.5 mcf and 105 mcf of gas.
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