Could

The jury is still out, but initial word from the MineralsManagement Service (MMS) on royalty in kind (RIK) pilots is RIKcould work for some gas and oil leases

The jury is still out, but initial word from the Minerals Management Service (MMS) on royalty in-kind (RIK) pilots is RIK could work for some gas and oil leases.

PennzEnergy, the exploration and production company spawn of therestructuring of Pennzoil and Quaker State, could be an attractivetakeover target for a large independent producer or integratedenergy company, according to an analyst who follows the company.

Unicom Corp.’s 2,698 MW Collins gas-fired power station could goup for sale as well as 1,396 MW of peaking units. A sale of theplants would mark the company’s exit from non-nuclear generation.As of Nov. 29, the gas plants burned nearly 45 million Btu of gassince the first of the year, a spokeswoman said.

The natural gas producing segment will lose $200 millionannually for every penny increase in transportation costs that’srealized from the lighter handed regulatory initiatives – such asnegotiated terms and conditions and capacity auctioning – proposedby FERC, an official with a leading independent producer groupprojected.

While the FERC cooks up a rulemaking that could lead to anauction system for short-term capacity, Commissioner Curt Hebert isinviting more chefs into the kitchen. “My feeling is there is nosecret to the recipe as long as it tastes the same in the end. Andif you have another recipe, I’d enjoy hearing about it,” Heberttold attendees at Gas Daily’s conference titled “Building BetterGas Transportation” Wednesday in Houston. “

The anticipated election of Rep. Robert Livingston (R-LA) as thenext speaker of the House of Representatives could be very good forthe natural gas and oil industries.

State hearings began this week in Sacramento on what could bethe first of more than a dozen new natural gas-fired merchant powerplants built in California in the first years of the next century.A 500 MW, $300 million electric power plant in northern California,the Sutter Power Project sponsored by San Jose, CA-based Calpine,is expected to complete public hearings before the CaliforniaEnergy Commission (CEC) before Thanksgiving, gain a proposeddecision by late December and a final approval for construction inMarch 1999, according to Roger Johnson, CEC siting program manager.

With all the talk of competition coming to the electricindustry, the gas industry could be feeling like a stepchild.According to speakers last week at the fourth annual meeting of theGas Industry Standards Board (GISB) in San Antonio, gas unbundlingis anything but a done deal, and many questions remain.