A Canadian environmental review panel approved the proposed Georgia Strait Crossing natural gas pipeline in British Columbia, BC Hydro said on Wednesday. The National Energy Board panel’s ruling will be submitted to federal Environment Minister David Anderson. It is a significant regulatory step forward for the project, which extends from Sumas, Washington, to Vancouver Island. The 85-mile pipeline is a joint proposal of BC Hydro and Williams.

The oil and gas division in California’s Conservation Department cited two large Southern California Gas Co. underground storage fields — Aliso Canyon and Honor Rancho — for the state division’s “Outstanding Lease Maintenance” Award. It was the 19th and 17th consecutive years, respectively, the two storage facilities were cited. The state agency oversees the 551 oil and gas lease operators in California, and it gave out 30 “outstanding” awards to 22 operators, the Sempra Energy gas distribution utility said in a prepared announcement. Maintenance of wells, compliance with regulations and good “corporate citizenship” are assessed by the agency through a series of field inspections. Developed in the 1970s, Aliso and Honor Rancho collectively store more than 150 Bcf of natural gas. The gas utility said that both fields “continue to benefit from improvements to surface facilities and reservoir operations and have expanded to meet continued market growth.” Lee Stewart, a senior vice president with San Diego-based Sempra Energy, the gas utility’s parent, said the state awards were a testament to SoCal employees, who he said are the key to assuring the “safe and efficient” storage operations.

Late Tuesday afternoon, California officials reached a compromise on the much-delayed next fiscal year budget, closing about $30 billion of the $38 billion deficit. The lower house Assembly passed a version of a compromise bill passed last Sunday by the state Senate, and Gov. Gray Davis said he would sign the legislative-enacted budget as soon as he gets it — probably by Thursday. Davis said as part of the legislation he will name a special fiscal commission to help the state “whittle down” the last $8 million of deficit, and to help the state make “structural changes” that will buffer its future fiscal operations from the ups and downs of the business cycle. What that means for energy, let alone the state’s struggling economy, was not clear, and Davis conceded the state still has “a lot of work ahead.” He indicated there is perhaps “more pain” ahead for the state’s businesses, taxpayers and education/social service programs. Davis, however, thinks Wall Street rating agencies and analysts should be pleased with the resolution of the budget, which was almost a month past-due its July 1 deadline.

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