Amended

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has amended its regulations to reflect updated standards for partial-day recalls of transportation capacity on interstate natural gas pipelines.

California’s attorney general announced Friday the state has made final an amended version of its previously announced $417 million settlement with Tulsa-based Williams Companies regarding a renegotiated 10-year power contract that is reduced by $1.4 billion in terms of the state’s obligations.

In a 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week, Reliant Resources Inc. officially amended its earnings for the second and third quarters of 2001. The restatement, which was announced in early February by the company, relates to a correction in accounting treatment for a series of four structured transactions that apparently were inappropriately accounted for as cash flow hedges between May 2001 and Sept. 2001 (see Power Market Today, March 18).

By a vote of 98-0, the Senate yesterday voted out apipeline-safety bill that essentially mirrors the legislation thatwas passed last year, with one “significant” change – it wouldrequire natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines to undergosafety inspections every five years. But, as with any Capitol Hilllegislation, it would allow waivers under certain circumstances.

The Independent Petroleum Association of America won an”impressive” victory when Congress amended the Energy Policy andConservation Act, a victory that may change where exploration andproduction development takes place in the future. The changes, saidIPAA at its recent annual meeting in San Antonio, require theDepartment of Interior to begin a comprehensive inventory ofgovernment-controlled lands on which oil and gas are found.

The Independent Petroleum Association of America won an”impressive” victory when Congress amended the Energy Policy andConservation Act, a victory that may change where exploration andproduction development takes place in the future. The changes, saidIPAA at its recent annual meeting in San Antonio, require theDepartment of Interior to begin a comprehensive inventory ofgovernment-controlled lands on which oil and gas are found.

The board of directors of the New York Mercantile Exchange hasamended plans to move up the start-up time for natural gas futurestrading because of the overlap with crude oil markets, which sharean options ring with natural gas. Daily gas futures trading nowwill commence at 9:30 a.m. rather than 9:45. The board hasscheduled expanded energy trading hours to begin with the Sept. 8trading session.

The U.S. Senate amended the Department of the Interior’sappropriations bill to include a provision for a two million barrelheating oil reserve in the Northeast. The House already hasauthorized creation of a permanent reserve but has not appropriatedfunds. A conference committee now will merge the two measures. Lastweek, the president ordered the Department of Energy to establish atemporary home heating oil reserve in time for use this winter.This week, DOE plans to advertise for bids to fill that stockpile.It intends to sell oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve inLouisiana in exchange for heating oil and storage capacity in theNortheast.

Tengasco Inc. of Knoxville, TN, is now selling gas from its SwanCreek gas field in eastern Tennessee. “We have signed an amendedagreement with Hawkins County Utility District in Rogersville, TN,to sell natural gas for industrial and residential customers,” saidMike Ratliff, Tengasco CEO.