Challenge

ExxonMobil Corp. and several other producers have less than 30 days to consider a legal challenge to Alaska’s decision last week that revoked some decades-old leases in the North Slope’s Point Thomson field. Barring a lawsuit, the natural gas-rich acreage could be opened to newcomers in a state lease sale scheduled for October 2007.

Meeting the challenge of the “cultural issues” involved in business development amidst expanding population and environmental concerns, Canadian producers are underwriting a neutral dispute resolution agency, Synergy Alberta, and have hired an executive from the Canadian Red Cross to head it up.

Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) said he may challenge current House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) for the position of Republican leader in the wake of the Democratic sweep in the mid-term elections.

Sponsors of Canada’s arctic natural gas project have beaten off a challenge from within the industry by winning a cost-saving decision from the National Energy Board. The NEB, in a ruling on a hotly-contested move by newcomers to the northern Canadian gas scene, refused to declare the Mackenzie Gas Project’s 190-kilometer (120-mile) Mackenzie Delta gathering grid a common carrier subject to open-access and tariff regulation.

Sponsors of Canada’s arctic natural gas project have beaten off a challenge from within the industry by winning a cost-saving decision from the National Energy Board. The NEB, in a ruling on a hotly-contested move by newcomers to the northern Canadian gas scene, refused to declare the Mackenzie Gas Project’s 190-kilometre (120-mile) Mackenzie Delta gathering grid a common carrier subject to open-access and tariff regulation.

Even with political alignment and the right economic metrics, the movement of Arctic natural gas to the Lower 48 states faces the challenge of pipe manufacturing limitations that should prevent the proposed Alaska and Canadian (Mackenzie Delta) pipeline projects being developed concurrently, a Houston-based Chevron executive told an industry audience in Los Angeles Wednesday.

Wisconsin’s Consumer Utility Board (CUB) most likely will challenge a dual rate increase that Xcel Energy filed last Wednesday with state regulators, seeking 13.3% and 6.5% rate hikes for its retail utility electricity and natural gas service in the state. The Minnesota-based utility is seeking to have the rate increase in place by Jan. 1 next year.

China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) apparently is still mulling whether to make an offer for Unocal Corp., which could challenge the $16.4 billion offer made by ChevronTexaco Corp. in April (see Daily GPI, April 5).

Sempra Energy Thursday came out swinging in response to a challenge of its LNG plans by two consumer groups, The Utility Reform Network (TURN) and Rayepayers for Affordable Clean Energy (RACE). The groups are disputing a California Public Utilities Commission decision to allow Sempra’s two Southern California utilities to establish a joint receipt point for liquefied natural gas (LNG) or other supplies flowing north from Mexico (see NGI, Sept. 6, Sept. 13).