Natural gas producers and interstate pipelines squared offagainst each other at FERC’s symposium on reform of its complaintprocess Monday. Both sides agreed that expedited handling ofcomplaints by the Commission was a top priority, but they partedsharply on the need for formal complaints to be processed anddisposed of by FERC by certain deadlines.

“The Commission definitely needs to organize itself aroundexpedition. This means deadlines. I don’t think there’s anywayaround it,” said Fred Moring, a Washington D.C. attorneyrepresenting the Pipeline Customer Coalition, a group of producers,LDCs and industrial gas users that first proposed deadlines abouttwo years ago.

The complaint process has to have “some good legs” to movethrough the Commission quickly, agreed David Sweet of theIndependent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA). It currentlytakes FERC about 160 days to process a complaint. The “market isdemanding this [deadlines], and the Commission needs to move withthe market,” noted David D’Allesandro, representing the New YorkPublic Service Commission.

But Peggy Heeg of El Paso Natural Gas, which represented theInterstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), counteredthat the Commission should be able to use its own discretion toprocess complaints. The pipeline group was stridently opposed toFERC being “locked” into specific deadlines for resolving formalcomplaints, particularly ones that may involve critical policyissues.

Heeg is a big advocate of the Commission’s Hotline, which shesaid allows pipelines and customers to resolve complaints “in amatter of days.” This process “we believe has teeth. When you get acall from FERC Enforcement staff, you don’t take it lightly,” shesaid. Randall Rich, who represented the Independent Oil & GasAssociation of West Virginia, said the Hotline was a preferredcomplaint-resolution method of smaller producers. “As smallcompanies, we really rely on informal procedures.” The panelistsencouraged FERC to do a better job of codifying the Hotlineprocedures so that more industry members would know about them.

Industry Briefs

Canada’s National Energy Board said it received a applicationfrom Renaissance Energy to export 24 MMcf/d of to the Northeast andMid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. for a 10-year period commencing onNov. 1. The gas would be exported at Niagara Falls, ON. Renaissancewill supply the natural gas from its own corporate supply poolwithin the province of Alberta.

Triton Energy, a Dallas-based oil and gas producer, announced ithas retained financial advisors CIBC World Markets, Lovegrove &Associates and Lehman Brothers to assist in studying strategicalternatives for maximizing shareholder value, including a possiblesale of most of its Malaysia-Thailand and Colombia operations. “Webelieve the stock market has not yet fully recognized the value ofthese assets,” said Thomas G. Finck, Triton Chairman and ChiefExecutive Officer. In addition, Triton plans to prioritize itsexploration portfolio. “We have been affected by lower oil pricesand increased drilling costs just like other exploration andproduction companies around the world,” said Finck. “Because ourcapital is limited, we want to focus our resources on what webelieve are the best prospects today.”

Transportation Notes

A systemwide Operational Flow Order Type 6 remained in effectMonday on Sonat. Based on scheduled supplies and the forecastdemand, the pipeline did not anticipate lifting the OFO for today.

Sonat also reported finding a leak on its 20-inch South Pass 62lateral that required shutting in 13 production points anddeclaration of a force majeure. About 90 MMcf/d was affected. If aclamp can “hold it [leak]),” a spokesman said Monday, the forcemajeure could end Wednesday; otherwise the outages may last a weekif pipe replacement is needed.

Columbia Gas reminded FSS customers that as of April 1 theirstorage inventories may not exceed 25% of SCQ (Storage ContractQuantity). Volumes exceeding the 25% level will be forfeited toColumbia.

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