LOS ANGELES, Nov. 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern
California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today requested regulatory approval
to resume injection operations through approved wells at its Aliso
Canyon storage facility. In support of this request, SoCalGas
submitted a detailed status report on all 114 wells at the facility
addressing the requirements of the California state-mandated Comprehensive Safety
Review and provided additional information requested by state
agencies, including a risk management plan for the facility.
"Over the last year we have made extensive physical upgrades and
deployed advanced technologies to enhance safety at Aliso Canyon,"
said SoCalGas President and Chief Operating Officer, Bret Lane. "These enhancements will further
strengthen the facility's infrastructure, introduce real-time
pressure monitoring, and enable improved communications with
stakeholders. As we move forward, we remain committed to a
continuous improvement process."
Examples of infrastructure and technology enhancements include
the installation of:
- New inner metal tubing of every well approved for injection –
in total more than 40 miles of new steel piping;
- Around-the-clock pressure monitoring of all wells in a 24-hour
operations center;
- An infrared fence-line methane detection system.
The Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources and the
California Public Utilities Commission are responsible for
confirming that the conditions to resume injection operations at
Aliso Canyon have been met.
About Southern California Gas Co: Southern California Gas
Co. (SoCalGas) has been delivering clean, safe and reliable natural
gas to its customers for more than 145 years. It is the nation's
largest natural gas distribution utility, providing service to 21.6
million consumers connected through 5.9 million meters in more than
500 communities. The company's service territory encompasses
approximately 20,000 square miles throughout central and
Southern California, from
Visalia to the Mexican border.
SoCalGas is a regulated subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a
Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego.
This press release contains statements that are not
historical fact and constitute forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These statements can be identified by words like "believes,"
"expects," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "projects,"
"forecasts," "contemplates," "intends," "assumes," "depends,"
"should," "could," "would," "will," "confident," "may,"
"potential," "possible," "proposed," "target," "pursue," "goals,"
"outlook," "maintain" or similar expressions, or discussions of
guidance, strategies, plans, goals, opportunities, projections,
initiatives, objectives or intentions. Forward-looking statements
are not guarantees of performance. They involve risks,
uncertainties and assumptions. Future results may differ materially
from those expressed in the forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon various
assumptions involving judgments with respect to the future and
other risks, including, among others: local, regional, and national
economic, competitive, political, legislative, legal, and
regulatory conditions, decisions, and developments; actions and the
timing of actions, including general rate case decisions, new
regulations, issuances of permits to construct, operate and
maintain facilities and equipment and to use land, franchise
agreements, and licenses for operation, by the California Public
Utilities Commission, California State Legislature, U.S. Department
of Energy, California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal
Resources, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, California Energy
Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, California Air Resources
Board, South Coast Air Quality Management District, cities and
counties, and other regulatory, governmental and environmental
bodies in the United States;
the timing and success of business development efforts and
construction, maintenance and capital projects, including risks in
obtaining, maintaining or extending permits, licenses, certificates
and other authorizations on a timely basis and risks in obtaining
adequate and competitive financing for such projects; the
resolution of civil and criminal litigation and regulatory
investigations; deviations from regulatory precedent or practice
that result in a reallocation of benefits or burdens among
shareholders and ratepayers and delays in regulatory agency
authorization to recover costs in rates from customers; the
availability of electric power and natural gas, and natural gas
pipeline and storage capacity, including disruptions caused by
failures in the North American transmission grid, moratoriums on
the ability to withdraw natural gas from or inject natural gas into
storage facilities, pipeline explosions and equipment failures;
energy markets; the timing and extent of changes and volatility in
commodity prices; the impact on the value of our natural gas
storage assets from low natural gas prices, low volatility of
natural gas prices and the inability to procure favorable long-term
contracts for natural gas storage services; risks that our partners
or counterparties will be unable (due to liquidity issues,
bankruptcy or otherwise) or unwilling to fulfill their contractual
commitments; capital markets conditions, including the availability
of credit and the liquidity of our investments, and inflation and
interest rates; cybersecurity threats to the energy grid, natural
gas storage and pipeline infrastructure, the information and
systems used to operate our businesses and the confidentiality of
our proprietary information and the personal information of our
customers and employees; terrorist attacks that threaten system
operations and critical infrastructure; wars; weather conditions,
natural disasters, catastrophic accidents, equipment failures and
other events that may disrupt our operations, damage our facilities
and systems, cause the release of greenhouse gasses and harmful
emissions, and subject us to third-party liability for property
damage or personal injuries, fines and penalties, some of which may
not be covered by insurance or may be disputed by insurers; the
inability or determination not to enter into long-term supply and
sales agreements or long-term firm capacity agreements due to
insufficient market interest, unattractive pricing or other
factors; and other uncertainties, all of which are difficult to
predict and many of which are beyond our control.
These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the
reports that the company has filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. These reports are available through the EDGAR system
free-of-charge on the SEC's
website, www.sec.gov. Investors should not rely
unduly on any forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date hereof, and the company
undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forecasts or
projections or other forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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SOURCE Southern California Gas Co.