Delay

Former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay and CEO Jeffrey Skilling tried once again Wednesday to delay their trial, which is set to begin on Monday. The two men’s legal teams requested that the pending trial be delayed until the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals considers a request to move the trial out of Houston.

Hurricane Wilma may mean yet another delay in efforts to restore offshore oil and natural gas production to pre-Hurricane Katrina levels, but so far the restoration effort appears to be continuing because of Wilma’s projected sharp right turn around Cuba and course toward southern Florida. Nevertheless, some offshore operators started to evacuate nonessential personnel as a precaution on Thursday.

The sharp reduction in the terms of new gas transportation and commodity contracts in recent years and the regulatory and market disincentives to longer-term contracting could delay much needed gas infrastructure projects, potentially costing consumers $653 billion in higher gas prices and price volatility over the next 15 years, according to a new white paper released by the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), which represents the nation’s gas pipeline companies.

The sharp reduction in the terms of new gas transportation and commodity contracts in recent years and the regulatory and market disincentives to longer-term contracting could delay much needed gas infrastructure projects, potentially costing consumers $653 billion in higher gas prices and price volatility over the next 15 years, according to a new white paper released by the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), which represents many of the nation’s major gas pipeline companies.

After a three-year delay, the Southern Pines Energy Center natural gas storage project to be located in Greene County, MS, finally appears to be getting underway (see NGI, May 27, 2002).

For the first time this year, California had a full complement of governor-appointed energy regulators last week, and they didn’t delay getting on the job, following the May 2 announcement from California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, selecting his chief energy adviser as the new chairman of the California Energy Commission (CEC) and a former Reagan administration treasury official and international banker as the fifth member of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

Shell said last week that it will further delay work to repair flexjoints on its Mars tension leg platform (TLP) in Mississippi Canyon Block 807 due to ongoing loop currents in the Mars Basin area of the Gulf of Mexico. The company intends to first complete flexjoint repairs at the Auger TLP in Garden Banks 426.

Shell said Tuesday that it will further delay work to repair flexjoints on its Mars tension leg platform (TLP) in Mississippi Canyon Block 807 due to ongoing loop currents in the Mars Basin area of the Gulf of Mexico. The company intends to first complete flexjoint repairs at the Auger TLP in Garden Banks 426.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) last week said that it is resuming its long-term procurement process after a temporary delay that began in January. PG&E expects to issue updated request for offers (RFOs) in March, with a submission deadline for initial offers in April. Offers will continue to be solicited for both facility ownership and power purchase alternatives.