Breaks

Duke Energy North America (DENA) is making good on its promiseto bring a significant amount of new electricity generation onlineby summer 2002. Yesterday the company broke ground on itspreviously announced Arlington Valley Energy Facility located inMaricopa County, AZ (see Daily GPI, Feb. 8).

Higher commodity prices, cost savings and mergers contributed toBP Amoco Plc’s $14.2 billion windfall year-end profits last year,which broke British profit records and were second only toU.S.-based rival Exxon Mobil Corp.’s $17 billion profit for 2000.BP’s profit in 1999 was $6.2 million.

Sempra Energy’s subsidiary Sempra Atlantic Gas is taking anotherstep towards becoming the only game in town for gas distributionin Nova Scotia as it prepares for the official ground-breakingceremony for the construction of the distribution system on Oct.27. The ceremony will take place in Dartmouth, NS.

As Altrade Power nears its one-year birthday, its operator Altrareleased some of the transaction statistics of the independentonline energy trading exchange. August saw personal bests beingbroken by the online trading platform in power, natural gasliquids, and natural gas, the company said.

As Altrade Power nears its one-year birthday, its operator Altrareleased some of the transaction statistics of the independent onlineenergy trading exchange. August saw personal bests being broken by theonline trading platform in power, natural gas liquids, and naturalgas, the company said (see Daily GPI,Oct. 25, 1999).

A contract is still a contract, even when the federal governmentis the one that breaks it, said the U.S. Supreme Court last week,which ruled that two energy giants are entitled to recover $158million in an offshore oil and gas deal that never happened. Thehigh court ruled 8-1 in a breach of contract lawsuit brought byMobil Corp. and Marathon Oil Corp. that followed their expensiveattempt to explore and develop leases off of North Carolina’s OuterBanks.

A contract is still a contract, even when the federal governmentis the one that breaks it, said the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday,which ruled that two energy giants are entitled to recover $158million in an offshore oil and gas deal that never happened. Thehigh court ruled 8-1 in a breach of contract lawsuit brought byMobil Corp. and Marathon Oil Corp. that followed their expensiveattempt to explore and develop leases off of North Carolina’s OuterBanks.

The bitter cold that cut through the Northeast last week,triggering record gas demand on distribution systems owned by SouthJersey Gas, KeySpan, Berkshire Gas, and Baltimore Gas and Electric,didn’t spare Con Edison of New York. The company said the severecold snap was responsible for record-setting gas usage as well asthe total amount of gas transported through its gas transmissionand distribution system.

The Independent Petroleum Association of America came outstrongly against a tax proposal presented earlier this week byDemocratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley that would do awaywith several loopholes currently benefiting oil and gas producers.