Duke Energy Corp. has petitioned the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to relieve it of reporting obligations placed on the company when the FTC approved two of its acquisitions in 2000.

Duke; Spectra Energy Corp., Duke’s spun-off natural gas business; and DCP Midstream LLC Tuesday asked the FTC to reopen and modify its decision and order entered May 5, 2000 related to:

Under the order, Duke and DEFS were required to divest 2,780 miles of gas gathering lines in certain areas of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas and to notify the FTC of future gas gathering or processing interests they intended to acquire in those areas.

In December 2006, Duke and DEFS told the FTC that Duke intended to spin off its gas business, including its 50% interest in DEFS, to Spectra, a newly formed independent company, and that DEFS would be renamed DCP Midstream (see Daily GPI, Oct. 31, 2006). The spin-off was completed in January (see Daily GPI, Jan. 3), and as a result Duke no longer holds any interest in DEFS or any other gas assets in the relevant areas.

The companies have asked the FTC to relieve Duke of all continuing obligations, which included an annual compliance report.

A 30-day public comment period on the petition will end July 5, after which the FTC will decide whether to grant approval.

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