Call

Although they support FERC certification of the proposed Cheyenne Plains Gas pipeline because it would give Midwest customers access to additional lower-priced natural gas from the Rocky Mountains, Kansas regulators said they believe the overall rate of return being sought by the El Paso-affiliated project is much too steep.

Arizona regulators and East-of-California (EOC) shippers have asked FERC to suspend action on El Paso Natural Gas pipeline’s settlement of California claims until the company files the complete settlement document. The pipeline’s submission of a partial settlement is “merely a tactic” to delay a Commission ruling in the natural gas-price manipulation case against El Paso, they allege.

Arizona regulators and East-of-California (EOC) shippers have asked FERC to suspend action on El Paso Natural Gas pipeline’s settlement of California claims until the company files the complete settlement document. Submitting an incomplete settlement is “merely a tactic” to delay a Commission ruling in the natural gas-price manipulation case against El Paso, they allege.

It was a close call, but the natural gas futures market managed to keep its string of gains alive Wednesday as the June contract edged higher for the sixth straight session. Although Wednesday’s 0.6-cent advance may seem pedestrian next to recent gains of 18 and 33 cents, the session was anything but a bore as prices soared to a new, 11-week high at $6.44 and gyrated within a wide, 31-cent trading range. June closed in the upper half that range at $6.314.

Natural gas consumers in the future could be forced to pay more in winter heating bills if the trend toward overreliance on gas as their fuel of choice continues, according to a study released Wednesday by Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC). The non-profit group, based in Alexandria, VA, is primarily funded by the U.S. coal-based electricity industry.

Natural gas consumers in the future could be forced to pay more in winter heating bills if the trend toward overreliance on gas as their fuel of choice continues, according to a study released Wednesday by Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC). The non-profit group, based in Alexandria, VA, is primarily funded by the U.S. coal-based electricity industry.

The Oil & Gas Asset Clearinghouse said Thursday that it will hold its next Hybrid Live Floor/Internet Auction offering 2,550 oil and gas properties combined into 443 lots at the Sheraton North Houston Hotel in Houston on April 16 and 17. The Clearinghouse noted that the hybrid auction process allows Internet bidders to compete in real time against the live floor bidders.

Answering the call for increased domestic natural gas production in the light of a tight natural gas supply market, Magnum Hunter said last week that it upped its gas production from an average of 73,424 Mcf/d during the fourth quarter of 2001 to 130,655 Mcf/d for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2002, partly due to a major acquisition.

Perhaps emboldened with shakeups in corporate board rooms across the country, some Exxon Mobil Corp. shareholders have called for the roles of chairman and chief executive officer to be separated. Lee Raymond has held the dual roles since Exxon and Mobil merged in November 1999; he had held both roles at Exxon before the merger.