Directed

Some Gulf gas deliveries were in limbo Friday after Pogo Producing filed a last minute motion with FERC requesting immediate issuance of an order allocating receipt point capacity on Southern Natural Gas’ pipeline system upstream of the Toca, LA, processing plant, part of which was scheduled to be taken down for maintenance on Sunday reducing processing capability by 750 MMcf/d.

Pogo Producing has filed a request with FERC for emergency pipeline capacity allocation on Southern Natural Gas’ offshore Gulf of Mexico pipelines upstream of the Toca, LA, gas processing plant, part of which is scheduled to be taken down in August for upgrades. Pogo, a captive producer with about 52 MMcf/d of production behind the Toca plant, said the plant shutdown could lead to the shut-in of 250 MMcf/d of gas production and some oil production.

The state of New Mexico wants to get into the natural gas pipeline business, but the bidding rules governing the bankruptcy court-directed auction for Enron’s assets apparently won’t allow it.

Calling Enron Corp. a “sad chapter in energy history,” FERC Chairman Pat Wood on Thursday directed staff attorneys to immediately review the explosive new audiotapes and other documents related to Enron’s activities during the 2000-2001 energy crisis, as well as all Enron proceedings pending before the Commission, to determine what further steps the agency may need to take in pending cases.

A federal appeals court in Washington, DC last week directed FERC to explain why it rejected a waiver of its right-of-first-refusal (ROFR) requirement for Gas Transmission Northwest Corp. (GTN) to enter into pre-arranged deals with shippers for available transportation service to start at a future date, yet granted ROFR waivers to other pipelines for similar capacity arrangements.

A federal appeals court in Washington, DC directed FERC to explain why it rejected a waiver of its right-of-first-refusal (ROFR) requirement for Gas Transmission Northwest Corp. (GTN) to enter into pre-arranged deals with shippers for available transportation service to start at a future date, yet granted ROFR waivers to other pipelines for similar capacity arrangements.

FERC last Wednesday directed its staff to develop an order that will require transmission system operators to report violations of the industry’s power grid reliability standards.

Starting off on the wrong foot, Republican and Democratic congressional conferees directed to come up with a comprehensive energy bill reached the end of their first week of negotiations deeply divided over how to proceed in the second and third weeks. In addition, Senate leader Pete Domenici, R-NM, said he would stand by his deal to hold off FERC standard market design (SMD) action through 2006, and the administration published its energy bill wish list.

Northern Natural Gas has initiated a new rate case directed at increasing revenues by $55 million and changing its methods of operation to better fit in with the competitive market (RP03-398).