Border

An unplanned outage occurred Wednesday at Northern Border’sCompressor Station No. 4. No capacity cuts were necessary, aspokesman said, and the station was functioning normally againThursday.

Citing continuing compressor repairs at Station 13, Northern BorderFriday extended a reduction of system throughput to 90% of summerdesign capacity (see Daily GPI, May 19)through Saturday and Sunday.

The Mexican Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) awarded thelicense to build and operate a gas distribution system in the LaLaguna-Durango geographic zone in north-central Mexico toDistribuidora de Gas Natural de La Laguna-Durango S. de R.L. deC.V. (DGN), wholly owned by San Diego-based Sempra EnergyInternational.

The depressed crude oil market continued to fuel an acquisitionfrenzy north of the border yesterday with Canadian producerRenaissance Energy mounting a friendly takeover of fellow CanadianPinnacle Resources Ltd. Renaissance CEO Clayton Woitas said theC$1.06 billion deal is designed to improve “operatingefficiencies,” build a stronger presence at a “fair price andcreate “long-term value” for shareholders.

Cold weather helped many Western points avoid the prices dropsin the East that generally ranged from a nickel to 15 centsTuesday. It was snowing Monday and Tuesday in the Salt Lake Cityarea and that is expected to continue today, a trader told DailyGPI. Only the Southwest basins and Waha were left out of the West’sfirmness, likely because they were getting no demand support at allfrom intrastate Texas and Midwest markets, sources said.