SoCalGas Prepared to Meet Winter Natural Gas Demand With New Rules Facilitating Withdrawal from Aliso Canyon: EIA

Southern California Gas Company has more flexibility to meet natural gas demand this winter than last year after California regulators approved new rules that make it easier for the company to withdraw gas from its Aliso Canyon storage facility, according to a Dec. 13 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Working natural gas inventory totaled 74.4 billion cubic feet, nearly equal to the year-ago stock level and 9 percent higher than it was in 2017.

Following the October 2015–February 2016 leak, SoCalGas was only permitted to withdraw from Aliso Canyon as a last resort based on limitations established by the California Public Utilities Commission. Aliso Canyon, with current authorized working gas storage totaling 34 Bcf, is the largest storage facility available to SoCalGas.

Further, repairs to Line 235-2, located in southeastern California, were completed in October, increasing pipeline capacity by 270 million cubic feet per day and expanding access to lower-cost natural gas from the San Juan Basin and Permian Basin through the Needles and Topock receipt points. Line 235-2 had faced reduced capacity after an October 2017 rupture on the pipeline.