12/11 11:50 Cold Weather May Freeze Texas Natural Gas Pipelines, Paper Says By Chris Dolmetsch

Dallas, Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Texas Railroad Commissioner Charles Matthews warned that as much as 40 percent of Texas' natural gas production could be affected if storms freeze the moisture in pipelines, the Dallas Morning News reported.

It could happen today, as a winter blast of air moved into the Texas Panhandle yesterday and began moving south, the paper said. Temperatures in Texas are expected to fall throughout the day, and cold weather can freeze the moisture in natural gas pipelines, shutting off the flow.

Matthews is nervous because most power plants under construction in Texas or completed in the last two years rely entirely on natural gas and have no other source of fuel as backup, the paper said.

Morris Burns, executive vice president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, told the paper he doesn't think the problem will affect major users because their lines and regulators are too big to allow freezing.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), December 11, 2000