Approves

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has voted to issue a preliminary determination (PD) to Greenbrier Pipeline Co. LLC’s $497 million pipeline project that, when completed, would serve the natural gas demands of the burgeoning power generation market in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, primarily in Virginia and North Carolina (CP02-396).

The New York City area pocketed a number of chips from the FERC board last Wednesday, picking up two projects to expand capacity from the north onto Long Island, as well as the long-delayed Millennium Pipeline to feed western Canadian supplies into the city from the west (see NGI, Sept. 2).

The New York City area pocketed a number of chips from the FERC board Wednesday, picking up two projects to expand capacity from the north onto Long Island, as well as the long-delayed Millennium Pipeline to feed western Canadian supplies into the city from the west (see Daily GPI, Aug. 29).

Enron Corp.’s $25 million settlement of a lawsuit filed against one-time rival and 15-minute merger partner Dynegy Inc. was approved in New York City late Thursday by the bankruptcy court overseeing Enron’s massive case. The resolution will free up more than $62 million for Enron, which had been held in escrow since late last year.

Duke Energy received approval from the National Energy Board (NEB) to expand the Fort Nelson Mainline in northeast British Columbia by 43 MMcf/d. The expansion of the former Westcoast Energy system will accommodate the strong production growth in the area.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a stipulation and consent agreement with Northern Natural Gas Co. Thursday that resolves the agency’s concerns about a $450 million loan that the regulated pipeline entered into to help bail out its then-parent, Enron Corp., just before Enron sank into bankruptcy last year. Northern Natural signed the agreement with FERC Chief Accountant John Delaware and the Office of General Counsel’s Market Oversight and Enforcement section.

Interior Secretary Gale Norton approved a new five-year plan that calls for the Minerals Management Service to hold 20 lease sales covering federal acreage on the Outer Continental Shelf of the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Alaska, where the government estimates there is 10 to 21 billion bbl of recoverable oil and 40 to 60 Tcf of recoverable natural gas.

The nation’s largest municipal utility, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), took the first steps toward locking in its 55 Bcf of annual natural gas supplies for the next five years as its oversight board Tuesday gave the municipal utility’s senior management the authority to line up multi-million-dollar supply deals with multiple suppliers. The city council and mayor still have to approve the new authority, but that is expected to happen by the end of next month.

Guardian Pipeline has received FERC authorization last Wednesday for modification of its planned 142-mile, 750 MMcf/d mainline from Chicago north to allow an interconnection with the system of ANR Pipeline. The original plan had been for Guardian to connect with Alliance Pipeline.