Gas Storage Operations

Underground natural gas storage is used to provide additional supplies of gas to serve the needs of residential, commercial, industrial, and power generation customers. Such facilities, depending on their locations relative to their markets, can serve base loads and/or peak demand loads. Based on its proposed operational characteristics and its close proximity to the greater Denver market, the Totem Natural Gas Storage Project is expected to serve both base and peak load markets very well.

Key operations of the project will include real-time tracking of injection and withdrawal volumes and rates; real-time monitoring of operating pressures; and routine inspection, maintenance, and integrity monitoring programs.

Natural gas storage facilities are linked to interstate and intrastate pipeline transmission and local gas pipeline distribution systems. They are generally located near market areas so the natural gas can be dispatched quickly to reach consumers when they need it most.

In 2005, according to industry data, there were more than 100 natural gas storage operators in the United States and more than 400 active storage facilities. El Paso Corporation, the parent company of CIG, operates more than 220 Bcf of total underground storage, representing more than 6 percent of the total storage capacity in the country. Much of this storage is in close proximity to the market areas. This is particularly valuable in serving the increasing power generation needs and the associated wide-ranging swings in generation demands. Nearby underground storage is especially capable of meeting the swings in these generators’ demands for fuel supplies.