California

Except for declines of less than a dime in San Juan Basin and at the Southern California border into PG&E, prices were up across the board again Wednesday. Tropical Storm (TS) Cindy’s disruption of offshore output was rapidly fading, but the potentially greater menace of Hurricane Dennis this weekend continued to stoke supply worries. A 30.4-cent screen spike Tuesday also provided residual support for the cash market.

Both Southern California Gas and Pacific Gas & Electric lifted for Thursday high-linepack OFOs that had been in effect Wednesday.

Southern California Gas declared a high-linepack OFO for Wednesday, saying it will assess Buy-Back charges in accordance with its rules and tariffs to customers who deliver into its system more than 110% of their actual gas usage.

Responding to a request from The Utility Reform Network (TURN), a utility consumer advocate, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) earlier this month kicked off an investigation of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s billing and collection practices that could ultimately result in refunds or fines for the utility. The five-member CPUC ordered the probe at its last business meeting.

Southern California Gas declared a high-linepack OFO for Saturday, saying it would assess Buy-Back charges in accordance with its rules and tariffs to customers who exceeded a 10% tolerance on deliveries into the SoCalGas system.

Responding to a request from The Utility Reform Network (TURN), a utility consumer advocate, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) earlier this month kicked off an investigation of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s billing and collection practices that could ultimately result in refunds or fines for the utility. The five-member CPUC ordered the probe at its last business meeting.

As California’s largest natural gas producer with a big bet on domestic oil/gas supplies, Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum has turned the corner financially with rapidly rising profits and stock prices, making it one of the top names on the energy industry’s acquisition target lists, according to a profile in the Sunday business section of the Los Angeles Times. The price for the company is growing, with its 70-year-old CEO Ray Irani telling the LA Times it could reach $40 billion.

Southern California Gas extended a high-linepack OFO that had begun Saturday through Sunday before lifting it Monday.

Southern California Gas declared a high-linepack OFO for Saturday, saying it would assess Buy-Back charges in accordance with its rules and tariffs to customers who delivered into its system more than 110% of their actual gas usage on the OFO day.