TC Energy/TransCanada

You may recall that TransCanada, one of Canada’s leading midstream/pipeline companies, cooked up a deal last year to pipe natural gas from Canada’s West Coast to the East Coast in order to fend off cheap supplies of Marcellus/Utica gas that will flow into Canada when/if the NEXUS and Rover pipelines get built (see TransCanada Pipe Drops Price 42% to Compete with Marcellus/Utica). TransCanada dropped their pipeline price to lure drillers by (theoretically) making it less expensive to get gas from Western Canada, some 2,400 miles away, than from the Marcellus, just 400 miles away. In October TransCanada launched an open season to lock up customers for the new, lower-priced option (see TransCanada Launches Open Season to Lowball Marcellus/Utica Gas). The open season was a flop because TransCanada insists on a 10-year commitment (see TransCanada Plan to Lowball M-U Gas Using Canada Pipeline a Bust). We thought that was the end of it, but it wasn’t. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the Rover pipeline earlier this month (see ET Rover Pipeline Gets Final Approval by FERC). That lit a fire under TransCanada because they perceive Rover as a direct, competitive, threat. So TransCanada has revived their plan to make it cheaper to pipe gas from western Canada to eastern Canada. Last time the deal was a 10-year term with a long-term tolling rate between C$0.75/GJ to C$0.82/GJ. Now the deal is a 10-year term at a simplified single rate of C$0.77/GJ. Huh? Looks almost like the same deal all over again–same 10-year term, about the same price. The difference appears to be that TransCanada has dropped a minimum amount to be shipped, hoping they can attract a bunch of small fry and create enough volume that way…
Read More “TransCanada Revives Plan to Lowball M-U Gas Using Canada Pipeline”

You may recall that TransCanada, one of Canada’s leading midstream/pipeline companies, cooked up a deal to pipe natural gas from Canada’s West Coast to the East Coast in order to fend off cheap supplies of Marcellus/Utica gas that will flow into Canada when/if the NEXUS and Rover pipelines get built (see TransCanada Pipe Drops Price 42% to Compete with Marcellus/Utica). TransCanada dropped their pipeline price to lure drillers by (theoretically) making it less expensive to get gas from Western Canada, some 2,400 miles away, than from the Marcellus, just 400 miles away. In October TransCanada launched an open season to lock up customers for the new, lower-priced option (see TransCanada Launches Open Season to Lowball Marcellus/Utica Gas). Yesterday TransCanada announced the open season is over and it was a bust–not enough takers to move forward with the plan…
Read More “TransCanada Plan to Lowball M-U Gas Using Canada Pipeline a Bust”

You may recall that TransCanada, one of Canada’s leading midstream/pipeline companies, cooked up a deal to pipe natural gas from Canada’s West Coast to the East Coast in order to fend off cheap supplies of Marcellus/Utica gas that will flow into Canada when/if the NEXUS and Rover pipelines get built (see TransCanada Pipe Drops Price 42% to Compete with Marcellus/Utica). TransCanada dropped their pipeline price by 42% to lure drillers by (theoretically) making it less expensive to get gas from Western Canada, some 2,400 miles away, than from the Marcellus, just 400 miles away. But all is not butterflies and unicorns with the TransCanada plan. Drillers are balking at having to sign a 10-year agreement in order to get the favorable pricing (see TransCanada’s Plan to Lowball Marcellus/Utica Gas Delayed). The delay is no more. TransCanada has launched a binding (sign on the dotted line) open season for potential customers to sign up for the lowball plan. They have until Nov. 10th. Will it work? We notice that TransCanada has relaxed the 10-year commitment a little bit. Shippers can cancel their contracts after five years, IF they pay higher shipping fees for a final two years. So TransCanada went from 10 years to 7 years, with really low prices for the first five years. Is it enough?…
Read More “TransCanada Launches Open Season to Lowball Marcellus/Utica Gas”

You may recall that TransCanada, one of Canada’s leading midstream/pipeline companies, cooked up a deal to pipe natural gas from Canada’s West Coast to the East Coast in order to fend off cheap supplies of Marcellus/Utica gas that will flow into Canada when/if the NEXUS and Rover pipelines get built (see TransCanada Pipe Drops Price 42% to Compete with Marcellus/Utica). TransCanada dropped their pipeline price by 42% to lure drillers by (theoretically) making it less expensive to get gas from Western Canada, some 2,400 miles away, than from the Marcellus, just 400 miles away. But all is not butterflies and unicorns with the TransCanada plan. Drillers are balking at having to sign a 10-year agreement in order to get the favorable pricing. Their reticence is leading to a delay in TransCanada’s master plan to conquer the Mighty Marcellus…
Read More “TransCanada’s Plan to Lowball Marcellus/Utica Gas Delayed”

How low can you go, and still make money? That’s the question TransCanada is testing in a bid to compete with cheap Marcellus/Utica natural gas that is heading to Canada via new pipelines, including Energy Transfer’s Rover and Spectra Energy’s NEXUS pipelines. Last month MDN reported that TransCanada has a plan to use existing pipelines from Western Canada to Eastern Canada–from Alberta to Toronto–to ship more natural gas from west to east (see TransCanada’s Plan to Undercut/Displace Gas from the Marcellus). The aim is to make it less expensive to get gas from Western Canada, some 2,400 miles away, than from the Marcellus, just 400 miles away. As an interesting aside, even though TransCanada wants to compete with gas coming from the Marcellus/Utica, they recently bought a big piece of Marcellus/Utica infrastructure by buying Columbia Pipeline (see TransCanada and Columbia Pipeline Tie the Knot Today). If you can’t beat ’em, buy ’em. Here’s the latest on TransCanada’s low low low pipeline rates (42% less) to ship gas from Western Canada…
Read More “TransCanada Pipe Drops Price 42% to Compete with Marcellus/Utica”

One of the important new markets that Marcellus and Utica Shale drillers have been salivating over is Canada. Indeed, flows of natural gas, via pipelines, have increased to Canada over the past several years (see Marcellus/Utica Gas Increasingly Heads to Canada via Pipeline). One of the promising new markets for Marcellus gas is Canadian LNG exports (see List of LNG Export Projects for Marcellus/Utica Shale Gas). However, Canada is feeling a bit PO’d (personally offended) with the U.S., especially since Lord Obama rejected the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada. Along has come a bold new proposal from TransCanada, which recently bought the U.S.-based Columbia Pipeline Group, to use existing pipelines from Western Canada to Eastern Canada–from Alberta to Toronto–to ship more natgas. The aim is to make is less expensive to get gas from Western Canada, some 2,400 miles away, than from the Marcellus, just 400 miles away. Should Marcellus drillers be concerned? Maybe. TransCanada is about to launch an open season for their bold, new plan to undercut the Marcellus…
Read More “TransCanada’s Plan to Undercut/Displace Gas from the Marcellus”