Elected

Members of the Railroad Commission of Texas elected Railroad Commissioner Michael L. Williams to serve as chair of the state’s oldest regulatory agency. Williams last chaired the Commission from September 1999 to September 2003. Since that time, both Commissioner Victor Carrillo and Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones have served as chairs. Williams noted how the energy industry has changed since he was last chairman. “This new century already has become an exciting one for the energy industry. Eight years ago, oil and natural gas producers were struggling to keep their businesses afloat. Today, world energy demand has swollen to such levels that producers struggle to meet the demand. Eight years ago, the Barnett Shale was a promising natural gas play in rural North Texas. Today, it is one of the largest producing fields in the nation and includes production in downtown Fort Worth. Eight years ago, the commission rolled out a pilot project for the on-line filing of one form. Today, over 20 forms can be filed on-line, with additional forms to be added this year. Eight years ago, the state had over 25,000 noncompliant wells. Today, fewer than 12,000 wells are on the Oilfield Cleanup Fund plugging list with over 12,000 plugged in the past eight years.”

Taking a hard line on Alaska’s long-term energy plan, newly elected Republican Gov. Sarah Palin said last Wednesday in her State of the State address that her “primary” energy focus is to get a natural gas pipeline serving the North Slope off of the drawing board and into service. In order to do that, she said the state will offer potential pipeline developers a package of incentives, including state funds.

Taking a hard line on Alaska’s long-term energy plan, newly elected Republican Gov. Sarah Palin said Wednesday in her State of the State address that her “primary” energy focus is to get a natural gas pipeline serving the North Slope off of the drawing board and into service. She added that the state also needs to ramp-up the development of its energy resources.

Pointing to three offshore proposals as better options, the newly elected mayor of Long Beach, CA, reiterated his opposition to siting a liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal in his city’s harbor in a published interview with the nonprofit, Alliance to Save Energy. He predicted the city council would consider the proposed LNG port site before the end of the year.

Pointing to three offshore proposals as better options, the newly elected mayor of Long Beach, CA, reiterated his opposition to siting a liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal in his city’s harbor in a published interview with the nonprofit, Alliance to Save Energy. He predicted the city council would consider the proposed LNG port site before the end of the year.

A blunt greeting has been given to the newly-elected Conservative regime in Ottawa by a Northwest Territories government out to parlay northern gas development into a new economic deal for the Canadian Arctic.

One of the five elected members of the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) last Tuesday proposed to her fellow state regulators that ACC staff be directed to investigate the pension plan funding levels of all major utilities in the state after her assessment of the state’s three major private-sector energy utilities revealed they are all currently under-funded collectively by more than $500 million.

Cheniere Energy shares jumped 9% Thursday to $31.25 after the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that Chevron has elected to retain its capacity agreement for 700 MMcf/d of throughput at the proposed Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Louisiana. Chevron had an option to scale back its capacity at the terminal to 500 MMcf/d under a 20-year deal it signed with Cheniere last November.

Former Sen. Don Nickles of Oklahoma has been elected to the board of directors of Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy Corp. for a term expiring in 2005, after which he will stand for re-election by Chesapeake’s shareholders. Nickles retired from the Senate after 24 years at the end of 2004. His election increases the size of Chesapeake’s board to eight members.