Eastern

The Environmental Protection Agency’s final plan for reducingsmog-causing emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in 22 easternstates and the District of Columbia should create an additional 1Tcf of gas demand by 2003, said Bruce Craig of the Natural GasSupply Association.

FERC has given the go-ahead to a major settlement that attemptsto resolve the looming decontracting problem on Texas EasternTransmission’s (Tetco) system while offering a significant ratereduction to its customers.

The 330-mile U.S. portion of the Vector Pipeline, proposed tocarry natural gas from the Chicago Hub to eastern connections,moved a step closer to construction with the issuance yesterday ofa draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) by the Federal EnergyRegulatory Commission.

San Francisco-based PG&E Corp. leap-frogged the continent tocomplete the $1.59 billion acquisition of New England ElectricSystem’s generating business, including hydro and gas-fired plantswith 5,100 MW of capacity. The acquisition was made by PG&Esubsidiary U.S. Generating Co.

The initial September aftermarket was both above and belowbidweek levels at various Eastern points Monday but decidedlystronger to the West. One trader found Southern California bordernumbers mostly in the mid $2.10s, nearly a dime above bidweekaverages. The situation was similar for Malin and the PG&Ecitygate, which got a little extra boost from a low-inventoryPG&E OFO (see Transportation Notes). “It’s hot here inCalifornia,” said a source, adding it seemed “like everybody wasout buying today.”

El Paso Energy’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) plans a newinterconnect in Casey County, KY, to deliver an additional 200MMcf/d of gas into Texas Eastern Transmission (Tetco) to servemarkets in parts of Kentucky and southern Ohio. The interconnect isexpected to be in service by Nov. 1. Tennessee plans to acceptnominations at the new point for November 1998 gas flow.

EEX Corp. agreed to trade substantially all of its Permian Basinproperties in West Texas and Eastern New Mexico for the shallowwater properties located off the coast of Texas and Louisiana ofEnergen Resources Corp., the oil and gas subsidiary of EnergenCorp. In addition to the shelf properties, EEX will receive $9million in cash. “This trade is another step in our strategy toexit the onshore business and focus on offshore Gulf of Mexico.These new properties will improve near-term production of naturalgas and will contribute to improving our cost structure by loweringper unit production costs while eliminating overhead costs relatedto onshore properties,” said Tom Hamilton, EEX CEO.

A continuation of intense heat in the Eastern U.S. lentfundamental support to gas markets in the region Friday, keepingcash prices flat to slightly higher or lower for the weekend.Again, though, it was a case of “not so” in the San Juan Basin,Rockies and California. Although east-of-California markets sawhigh temperatures approaching or surpassing 100 degrees, a dearthof demand from the Golden State and the unrealized threat of an OFOon El Paso caused gas to back up into the San Juan-Blanco pool,resulting in a steep dive of nearly 30 cents. One source, whopicked up an early Blanco package at $1.78, about a dime down fromThursday, paid only $1.59 near the end of trading.

The relatively small declines in Eastern markets Fridaysurprised some traders. Although down another 2-5 cents overall,pipes in the Gulf Coast and Midcontinent were rebounding late tolevels essentially flat from Thursday. The weakness in Thursdayafternoon’s Access futures trading pushed prices down early Friday,a marketer said, “then things came back up when the Merc showed alittle strength.” Although the screen eventually shed its gains towind up basically unchanged, that occurred too late to impact cashtrading.