Begun

For nearly all points, the late-November swing price softeningthat had begun Monday upon emergence from the holiday weekendcontinued at a much accelerated pace Tuesday. The conspicuousexceptions? The same ones that have dazzled the rest of the marketsince Thanksgiving week began with numbers well over $10:California and the Pacific Northwest points where Canadian gas istraded (Sumas, Stanfield and Kingsgate).

Legal troubles for the once high-flying Avista Corp. continue toadd up, as federal investigators have begun looking into possibleenergy futures trading rule violations that may have occurred twoyears ago at a Houston subsidiary.

Colorado Interstate Gas Co. has begun transporting an additional33 Mdth/d of natural gas from the Raton Basin to delivery points onits system following completion of its Picketwire Lateral Loop insouthern Colorado. The Coastal Corp.’s Rocky Mountain pipelinesubsidiary placed the line in service Oct. 24.

Unocal’s Spirit Energy 76 unit has begun production on the Gulfof Mexico Muni discovery — ahead of schedule, under budget and ontarget to exceed 120 MMcf/d before the end of this year. Theoffshore Louisiana discovery, made only 10 months ago, has anestimated gross resource potential of 100 to 160 Bcf.

The AES Corp., headquartered in Arlington, VA, has begunconstruction on a $340 million electric power plant and liquefiednatural gas importing facility in the Dominican Republic. The AESAndres plant will be located outside of Santo Domingo, and willconsist of a 300 MW gas-fired combined cycle plant and LNGimporting terminal. The plant, which will take about two years tobuild, will be powered by a 501F gas turbine from Mitsubishi HeavyIndustries. BP Amoco will supply LNG under a 20-year fuel supplyagreement, and Chicago Bridge & Iron will construct the LNGfacility. AES already has a substantial presence in the DominicanRepublic, owning 100% interest in a 210 MW simple cycle electricpower station and a 50% interest in an electric distributioncompany, EDE Este there. EDE serves more than two million customersin the eastern region.

To help its clients reduce the costs of doing business,DukeSolutions Inc., headquartered in Charlotte, NC, has begun usingonline energy auctions to lower the cost of natural gas, reduceprocurement charges and speed up contract executions for its 20client facilities in the Midwest.

Houston’s Manta Ray Offshore Gathering Co. LLC has begunconstructing a major extension to its existing offshore gatheringsystem to complement the Hickory prospect in the Gulf Coastoffshore in Grand Isle Blocks 110, 111 and 116, which is expectedto begin production later this year. The 22.25 mile, 20-inchdiameter pipeline extension will tie into an existing gatheringsystem at South Timbalier Block 292 and extend to the Grand IsleBlock 116 platform. According to Manta Ray, the “strategicposition” will help the company compete for transportation of moregas volumes in the “prolific” area. The extension is sized tohandle the total Hickory volumes as well as the surrounding area’sproduction. Anadarko first announced the Hickory discovery inOctober 1998, and now is drilling additional development wells. Aproduction platform is planned to be moved on location at Block 116later this summer with facilities capable of handling 300 MMcf/d ofnatural gas. Shell Gas Transmission owns 50% of Manta Ray while ElPaso Energy Partners LP owns 25.67% and Marathon Gas TransmissionInc. owns 24.33%.

Kansas City, MO’s Utilicorp United Inc. is shopping around, andhas already begun to narrow its options on which “high quality,low-cost fleet of generators” to pair with its wholesale merchantmoneymaker Aquila Energy, management announced last week. Apartnership deal is expected to be unveiled within a few months.

Kansas City, MO’s Utilicorp United Inc. is shopping around, andhas already begun to narrow its options on which “high quality,low-cost fleet of generators” to pair with its wholesale merchantmoneymaker Aquila Energy, management announced yesterday. Apartnership deal is expected to be unveiled within a few months.