石油设备网讯 据今日油价网站4月23日消息 阿帕奇公司周二表示，为减轻西德克萨斯州瓦哈中心极低价格的影响，该公司已于3月底开始推迟在二叠纪阿尔卑斯高地的天然气生产。
目前，该公司推迟约2.5亿立方英尺/日的天然气总产量。
四月初，瓦哈中心的天然气价格暴跌，创下了历史新低的负水平，这是因为在二叠纪生产的一条管线上的压缩站存在管道限制问题。
在4月的第一周，瓦哈中心的现货价格跌至创纪录的低点，为4.28美元/每百万英热单位。
二叠纪的天然气产量与原油产量同步上升，尽管天然气外运能力吸引了媒体的关注，但天然气管道的限制与原油管道的限制类似。
天然气外运能力的限制一方面导致了二叠纪更多的天然气燃烧，另一方面，瓦哈天然气中心价格与路易斯安那州的美国基准亨利中心之间的价差创下历史新高。
阿帕奇公司首席执行官兼总裁John J. Christmann IV今天在一份声明中表示：“我们将密切关注每日价格，并在有利可图时将天然气返还销售。同时我们正在认真管理这些措施，因此不会对长期井筒完整性或储层产能产生不利影响，并期待尽快将该产品投入市场。”
阿帕奇表示，两年前，阿帕奇在金德摩根的管道项目“海湾沿岸快运”和“二叠纪公路”上承包了超过10亿立方英尺/日的长期、稳固的从二叠纪盆地供应天然气。他指出，预计海湾沿岸快运将在今年晚些时候投入使用，而二叠纪公路明年将投入运营。
这位阿帕奇首席执行官表示：“我们预计二叠纪盆地天然气价格差异相对较大且波动较大，直到海湾沿岸快运管线投入使用。作为一家注重长期回报的公司，我们知道，这样的生产延期将提高财务绩效，尽管这会对近期产量产生影响。但从环境和经济角度来看，这是与其他行业做法（如以亏本或不盈利的价格燃烧或销售天然气）相类似的一个正确解决方案。”
王磊 摘译自 今日油价
原文如下：
Apache Shuts In Permian Gas Production As Prices Crash
Apache Corporation said on Tuesday that it had temporarily started to delay natural gas production at its Alpine High play in the Permian in late March to mitigate the impact of the extremely low prices at the Waha hub in West Texas.
Currently, the company is deferring around 250 million cubic feet (MMcf) per day of gross gas production.
Natural gas prices at the Waha hub plummeted to record low negative levels in early April, as pipeline constraints and problems at compressor stations at one pipeline stranded gas produced in the Permian.
Spot prices at the Waha hub plunged to a record low of minus $4.28 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in the first week of April.
Gas production in the Permian has been rising in lockstep with crude oil production, and even though gas takeaway capacity has attracted less media attention, pipeline constraints for natural gas are similar to those of crude oil pipeline capacity.
The natural gas takeaway capacity constraints have resulted in more gas flaring in the Permian on the one hand, and in a record-high spread between the Waha gas hub price and the U.S. benchmark Henry Hub in Louisiana, on the other hand.
“We will closely monitor daily pricing and return our gas to sales when it is profitable to do so. We are carefully managing these actions so there is no adverse impact on long-term wellbore integrity or reservoir productivity and look forward to returning this production to market as soon as practical,” John J. Christmann IV, CEO and president of Apache Corporation, said in a statement today.
Apache contracted two years ago more than 1 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per day of long-term, firm takeaway capacity from the Permian Basin on Kinder Morgan’s pipeline projects Gulf Coast Express and Permian Highway, Apache said, noting that Gulf Coast Express is expected to be in service later this year, while Permian Highway is set to start operations next year.
“We anticipate relatively wide and volatile natural gas price differentials in the Permian Basin until the Gulf Coast Express pipeline enters service. As a long-term returns-focused company, we know that production deferrals such as this will improve financial performance despite the impact on near-term volumes. This is the proper approach from both an environmental and economic perspective relative to other industry practices such as flaring or selling associated gas at a negative or unprofitable price,” Apache’s Christmann said.
