Creating

ChevronTexaco is having one of its best years ever exploration-wise, and is well on its way toward creating a global natural gas business, according to CEO Dave O’Reilly.

Instead of charging a fee for using its new electronic trading system, the New York Mercantile Exchange Inc. (Nymex) plans to pay traders for creating liquidity. Under the terms of the program, any participant who makes a bid or offer on the Nymex ClearPort network that is subsequently accepted will receive payment in lieu of an exchange fee.

The merchant energy trading segment is suffering a “crisis of confidence,” which is creating a “down cycle,” not a “death spiral,” Mirant’s Chief Risk Officer Michael Smith said last week.

FERC was dealing out pipeline certificates like cards at a Black Jack table last Wednesday at its regular agenda meeting. Recipients included the Georgia Strait Crossing pipeline, Northwest Pipeline for a mainline expansion, Southern Natural for its South System II expansion, South Carolina Pipeline for a new line to the Elba Island LNG terminal, Millennium Pipeline (see separate story), two projects designed to serve Long Island (see separate story), and to Northern Natural Gas for compression expansion in Nebraska. Kinder Morgan Texas also won a presidential permit for a border crossing project.

Texas independents Magnum Hunter Resources Inc. and Prize Energy Corp. announced Tuesday they had agreed to merge, creating a new company with a combined enterprise value of $1.2 billion. The companies, both headquartered in the Dallas area, had total proved reserves of approximately 1 Tcfe on Dec. 31, 2000 and at the end of September 2001, they had combined net daily production of 232 MMcfe. The company, which would have a reserve mix of 55% natural gas and 45% oil, would keep the Magnum Hunter name.

Texas independents Magnum Hunter Resources Inc. and Prize Energy Corp. announced Tuesday they had agreed to merge, creating a new company with a combined enterprise value of $1.2 billion. The companies, both headquartered in the Dallas area, had total proved reserves of approximately 1 Tcfe on Dec. 31, 2000 and at the end of September 2001, they had combined net daily production of 232 MMcfe. The company, which would have a reserve mix of 55% natural gas and 45% oil, would keep the Magnum Hunter name.

Given the inability of the natural gas standards-setting organization to resolve the issue of intra-day recalls of released transportation capacity, FERC has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) that would give releasing shippers the flexibility to re-nominate their recalled capacity at the next scheduling opportunity provided by an interstate pipeline.

Given the inability of the natural gas standards-setting organization to resolve the issue of intra-day recalls of released transportation capacity, FERC has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) that would give releasing shippers the flexibility to re-nominate their recalled capacity at the next scheduling opportunity provided by an interstate pipeline.

California officials last week announced a deal with its small qualifying facility (QF) generators and progress in creating what its governor is calling a “pincer movement” between Sacramento and Washington, D.C., to force lower wholesale prices. Gray Davis was ebullient in claiming a “day of accounting” is coming for merchant generators in which they either take heavy discounts on monies owed them, or substantial decreases (federal price caps) in power prices going forward.