Dubbed

A $9.5 million deep-drilling project in California’s oil-gassaturated south San Joaquin Valley, dubbed Project Ekho, began itsfirst test drilling Monday at a site 40 miles northwest ofBakersfield, shooting for a depth of 19,500 feet where itsindependent backers calculate there could be the beginning of somesubstantial new oil and gas supplies, according toBakersfield-based Tri-Valley Oil & Gas Co., operator of theproject, which has numerous Canadian backers.

Despite its claims otherwise, Northern Border Pipeline’sproposed Project 2000 expansion/extension will have a significant”negative impact” on Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America (NGPL),both on a system-wide basis and on its deliveries to North Hayden,IN, the Kinder Morgan pipeline said.