2001

A Natural Gas Subcommittee of the Interior Department’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Policy Committee is scheduled to submit recommendations this week for a pilot program that would allow limited drilling on the five top natural gas geologic plays currently in offshore moratoria areas. The proposed pilot is among a host of others measures, designed to encourage the production of natural gas on the OCS, encourage energy alternatives to natural gas and increase conservation measures.

The two nominees to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Nora Mead Brownell and Pat Henry Wood III, received a relatively warm but serious welcome by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week, during a hearing on their nominations. A committee staff member said a positive vote on the nominees was likely at the regularly scheduled business meeting this Wednesday.

©Copyright, 2001 Intelligence Press. All rights reserved. Thepreceding news report may Not be republished Or redistributed, in wholeOr in part, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press .

©Copyright, 2001 Intelligence Press. All rights reserved. Thepreceding news report may Not be republished Or redistributed, in wholeOr in part, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press .

A Natural Gas Subcommittee of the Interior Department’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Policy Committee is scheduled to submit recommendations this week for a pilot program that would allow limited drilling on the five top natural gas geologic plays currently in offshore moratoria areas. The proposed pilot is among a host of other measures designed to encourage the production of natural gas on the OCS, encourage energy alternatives to natural gas, and increase conservation measures. If approved it could be one of the first concrete steps in furthering the administration’s pledge to clear barriers to developing the full U.S. resource base.

Two of the most controversial initiatives contained in Bush administration energy task force report that will directly affect the North American natural gas and power industries call for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and giving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission eminent domain authority over the siting of new transmission facilities.

The two nominees to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Nora Mead Brownell and Pat Henry Wood III, received a relatively warm but serious welcome by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee yesterday, during a hearing on their nominations. A committee staff member said a positive vote on the nominees was likely at the regularly scheduled business meeting next Wednesday.

The New York Independent System Operator’s (NYISO) board is expected to rule today on a proposal that would allow it to expand and increase financial penalties for power plant owners that are found to have engaged in the exercise of market power. Generators in the state are asking the NYISO to reject the plan, arguing that it will remove incentives for power suppliers to sell electricity into New York during critical peak demand periods.

©Copyright, 2001 Intelligence Press. All rights reserved. Thepreceding news report may Not be republished Or redistributed, in wholeOr in part, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press .