Completed

The 330-mile U.S. portion of the Vector Pipeline, proposed tocarry natural gas from the Chicago Hub to eastern connections,moved a step closer to construction with the issuance yesterday ofa draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) by the Federal EnergyRegulatory Commission.

Lomak Petroleum and Domain Energy completed their merger andformation of a new company called Range Resources, which will havea 1 Tcf reserve base and $1 billion in total assets. The reservesare 72% natural gas with daily production at 9,248 b/d of oil andliquids and 161 MMcf/d of gas.

Williams completed and placed into service the first phase ofits Mobile Bay Expansion and Extension project to bring anadditional 350 MMcf/d of gas from East Main Pass Block 261 onshoreto Transco compressor station 82 in Coden, AL. “We have madeexcellent progress completing the first phase of this importantproject,” said Frank Ferazzi, vice president of customer serviceand rates for Williams’ Transco.

Amoco Energy Co. of Trinidad and Tobago completed an 18-monthproject to increase its gas capacity by 40% to support growingdomestic industrial demand at Point Lisas and Point Fortin. Amocoincreased its ability to provide gas locally to about 700 MMcf/d,primarily due to two successful new wells at the company’s existingFlamboyant structure off the southeast coast of Trinidad.

The sale of Ozark Gas Transmission to an Enogex affiliate hasbeen completed, but it remains to be seen whether the FERC willbless Enogex with the rates it seeks for an interstate pipelinecomposed of the combination of Ozark and its currentlynon-jurisdictional NOARK Pipeline.

TransCanada PipeLines Limited and NOVA Corp. last week completedtheir merger, the largest ever undertaken by energy companies inCanada. The new TransCanada PipeLines Limited and NOVA Corp. begantrading in Canada July 3. Trading began in the United StatesMonday.

PG&E Gas Transmission-Northwest reported Tuesday it hadcompleted unscheduled maintenance on Unit C at Station 7 (see DailyGPI, June 24-26). Throughput capabilities returned to 2,500 MMcf/dat Kingsgate, 2,375 MMcf/d at Station 8 and 1,900 MMcf/d at Station14.

Gas markets should see sustained growth from now until 2015,according to a study just completed by the Canadian Energy ResearchInstitute (CERI). Demand is projected to grow in all markets withthe highest growth rates coming from use of gas for powergeneration.

Houston Industries Power Generation (HIPG) completed its $237million acquisition of four gas-fired generating plants totaling2,276 MW from Southern California Edison. HIPG had submitted thewinning bids for SCE’s Ellwood, Mandalay, Etiwanda and Cool Waterplants, which have been renamed Oeste, Ocean Vista, Mountain Vistaand Alta Power, respectively.