According to Reuters article published on April 28, 2023, Canadian energy company TC Energy Corp (TRP.TO) said on Friday that its Columbia Gulf Transmission unit declared a force majeure event at its Corinth natural gas compressor station in Mississippi due to a fire, which had been extinguished.
The fire at the compressor station resulted from a suspected lightning strike during severe storms that occurred early on Friday, the company said in a statement.
"No one was injured in the incident, and the fire has now been extinguished," it added.
U.S. natural gas futures jumped from a negative 2% to a positive 7% Friday morning on news of the shutdown. The market pared gains to a positive 2% by Friday afternoon on expectations the facility would return soon.
The Corinth compressor station is making operational adjustments to allow a portion of volume to resume flows through the impacted segment of the system, TC Energy said.
"While we continue to assess the impacts, we expect them to be minimal and short in duration," it said.
The company told customers that capacity through the area would be reduced to around 1.75 million dekatherms, or roughly 1.75 billion cubic feet (bcf), until further notice.
Based on current nominations, Columbia Gulf said the anticipated impact to firm service was about 0.4 bcf.
About 2.2 bcf of gas was flowing from Appalachia to the Gulf Coast through Corinth over the past week, according to data provider
Columbia Gulf said it would provide additional information as soon as it becomes available.
The Columbia Gulf pipe stretches 3,367 miles (5,419 kilometers) between the U.S. Gulf Coast and the Midwest, serving customers in Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky, according to the company's website.
