Believes

North Baja Pipeline LLC has denounced what it believes is the “one-size-fits-all approach” being taken by FERC in establishing creditworthy requirements for interstate natural gas pipelines.

A Shell Canada Ltd. executive said last week he believes that Nova Scotia’s offshore oil and gas industry will decline after 2010 unless more discoveries are made in the near future.

A Shell Canada Ltd. executive believes that Nova Scotia’s offshore oil and gas industry will decline after 2010 unless more discoveries are made in the near future.

The Fitch Ratings Global Power group believes that for some U.S. power and natural gas companies, next year will be difficult, but analysts also noted that there are also many that have stable prospects going into 2003. Fitch on Tuesday released its 42-page “U.S. Power & Gas Sector Outlook for 2003,” which outlines the agency’s expectations for the 315 power and gas utilities it rates in the United States.

Dynegy Inc.’s new-and-improved business plan is not enough cashflow wise to fully offset the massive amount of debt leveraging that carried over from its former business strategy, according to an analyst with Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P). The ratings agency last Tuesday cut the company and its subsidiaries another notch, to “B” from “B+”.

Dynegy Inc.’s new-and-improved business plan is not enough cash-flow wise to fully offset the massive amount of debt leveraging that carried over from its former business strategy, according to an analyst with Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P). The ratings agency on Tuesday cut the company and its subsidiaries another notch, to “B” from “B+”.

Duke Energy Corp.’s diversified portfolio, spread across seven business segments throughout the United States and abroad, was not enough to stabilize the energy giant in a year in which forecasts have been thrown out the window. Plagued by a prolonged economic downturn, investigations and continued market uncertainty, Duke readjusted its 2002 earnings guidance for the second time in two months on Friday, slicing another 50 cents off of expectations, and warning that next year could even be worse.

Duke Energy Corp.’s diversified portfolio, spread across seven business segments throughout the United States and abroad, was not enough to stabilize the energy giant in a year in which forecasts have been thrown out the window. Plagued by a prolonged economic downturn, investigations and continued market uncertainty, Duke readjusted its 2002 earnings guidance for the second time in two months on Friday, slicing another 50 cents off of expectations, and warning that next year could even be worse.

Looking to help meet North America’s ever-increasing appetite for natural gas, companies such as El Paso Corp. and Shell have been looking outside the box to find new sources of natural gas, and new methods to deliver it to the continent. El Paso announced that it has finalized LNG agreements with a Norwegian consortium, while Shell has proposed its floating liquefied natural gas technology (FLNG) for Timor Sea production. Shell also announced last week that it will invest in the first LNG export project in Venezuela, which intends to tap 10 Tcf of gas reserves and send them to the U.S. East Coast (see related story).