Clear

Although he praised FERC as a “fine group of people,” CaliforniaGov. Gray Davis yesterday made very clear that he doesn’t like whatit’s prescribed to mend his state’s seriously flawed bulk powermarket.

Eager hunters of new supplies will have to wait a while forclear word on whether a promising nearby natural gas frontier willopen up again offshore of British Columbia’s western coastline. TheB.C. government is spreading a word of caution after industryanalysts and representatives put an enticing spin on statementsmade by provincial energy minister Dan Miller during appearances atthe 16th World Petroleum Congress last month in Calgary.

Eager hunters of new supplies will have to wait a while forclear word on whether a promising nearby natural gas frontier willopen up again offshore of British Columbia’s western coastline. TheB.C. government is spreading a word of caution after industryanalysts and representatives put an enticing spin on statementsmade by provincial energy minister Dan Miller during appearances atthe 16th World Petroleum Congress last month in Calgary.

Although industry comments on Order 637 still were tricklinginto FERC late Friday, it was clear that gas producers, bothmajors and independents, and industrial customers had some of thebiggest problems with the final order by far, while the interstatepipelines and LDCs sought minor tweaking of a “discrete” set ofissues.

The race to serve the lucrative Florida generation market becamemore clear yesterday, as Duke Energy announced it has shelved itsproposed Sawgrass pipeline project and allied with a formercompetitor, Williams’ Buccaneer Pipeline.

Midway through round four of the NiSource-Columbia bout last week there still was no clear leader as CEOs for both companies went back to gnawing at each other’s ears. It’s been four weeks since NiSource Chairman Gary Neale threw the first punch with a $5.7 billion, $68/share offer for Columbia Energy Group’s outstanding shares, and it’s now two weeks before that offer expires.

The Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) gave its blessing to the proposedmerger of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. and CalEnergy Co. Inc.last week, removing the final regulatory hurdle to a transactionthat will combine and complement the assets and expertise of a U.S.utility with those of a United Kingdom utility. The deal isexpected to be completedon Friday.

While making clear the administration would not be engaging inany market-rigging through price ceilings or floors, EnergySecretary Bill Richardson said it nevertheless was working onfurther measures to aid the depressed oil and gas industry.

Without clear fundamental or technical direction, the futuresmarket was left to follow the early lead of cash prices, which wasgenerally softer Friday. Lack of substantial liquidity was also alimiting factor during the abbreviated trading session as manytraders elected to remain on the sidelines. The March contractfinished down 3 cents at $1.807.