Columbia Gas Transmission plans to add a new well to its natural gas storage field in Ohio as part of a larger plan to boost deliverability and counteract deteriorating conditions across its aging storage system.
The new well would be installed at Columbia Gas' Weaver 50.5 Bcf (1.4bn m³) storage field in north-central Ohio, which was repurposed from a depleted natural gas production reservoir originally drilled in 1911. Columbia Gas requested authorization from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build and operate a new horizontal storage well in the field with a capacity of 16mn cf/d, with a project cost of $2.8mn.
The effort is part of Columbia Gas' ongoing storage modernization project, which it is pursuing amid a decline in deliverability occurring across its entire storage system. Gas flow from storage has become impeded during injections and withdrawals over time because of deteriorating reservoir and wellbore conditions, the filing said.
Columbia Gas has reworked some existing wells, but overall deliverability "has yet to make a complete recovery, especially late in the withdrawal season," the company said.
During the start of the withdrawal season, which typically occurs as temperatures drop around the end of the year, wells in more geologically favorable areas are left shut-in to preserve pressure so they can serve peak market demand later in the withdrawal season, as the coldest winter weather boosts natural gas use. The new well would be drilled in such an area to boost late season deliverability. Columbia Gas would also install a 159-foot (48-meter) 6-inch diameter pipeline to connect the new well to existing storage pipelines.
Columbia Gas stockpiles are below average levels as a result of extremely cold weather this winter. The company's total inventories had fallen to 49.8 Bcf as of 13 April, 39pc below a year earlier and lagging the four-year average level by 20pc.
Columbia Gas's midstream footprint lies primarily within the prolific Marcellus and Utica production region, positioning the company to squirrel away large quantities of inexpensive gas for use in the colder winter months. Spot prices at the Columbia Gas, Appalachia pool have averaged $2.59/mmBtu so far this month, at a 17¢/mmBtu discount to the Henry Hub. That discount can expand significantly during times of low demand, widening to as much as $1.27/mmBtu over the past year.
Columbia Gas has an ample storage portfolio that includes 37 storage locations capable of storing a total of more than 650 Bcf. The bulk of Columbia Gas' storage fields are located in Ohio and West Virginia, with some additional assets in Pennsylvania and New York.
