Gas Transmission Northwest

This spring, TransCanada launched service for its 230-MMcf/d Sundre Crossover expansion, increasing transportation capacity for moving Alberta natural gas production to the U.S. Pacific Northwest. That may seem like a trifling volume in the big scheme of the North American gas market. But considering that Canadian and U.S. producers already are locked in a heated battle for market share of U.S. demand and pipeline capacity, it’s enough for Canadian supply to gain ground. Since the Sundre in-service date, deliveries to the Kingsgate point at the British Columbia-Idaho border have ratcheted up to the highest levels in at least a decade. As a result, Canadian exports have managed to elbow out Rockies gas from the California market, and set off a ripple effect that’s pushing more gas east to the Midcontinent. Today, we examine the shifting gas flows in the West.

As Canada’s natural gas exports to the Eastern U.S. have been pushed out by growing Marcellus/Utica gas supply, they’ve been flooding the U.S. West Coast. TransCanada is planning expansions of its Alberta system to send more gas across the western border, setting the stage for a showdown with Rockies gas supply. At the same time, the rise of renewable energy in California and the Pacific Northwest poses a constraint for gas demand growth in the region. Today, we look at recent shifts in border flows to the West Coast and prospects for future growth.