Emerged

Signaling its full return to financial health almost two years after its utility emerged from Chapter 11, PG&E Corp. is eyeing a natural gas pipeline project in conjunction with a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal along the Oregon coast. It would mark the return of the San Francisco-based utility holding company to a region it historically played a key role in as the operator of a major interstate gas pipeline from Alberta to northern California under its now disbanded National Energy Group (NEG).

Bankrolled by $2.35 billion in exit financing, Atlanta-based Mirant Corp. announced Tuesday it has successfully emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, completing the court-approved steps needed to put its reorganization plan in effect. Under the plan, Mirant will convert more than $6 billion of debt and liabilities into equity in the reorganized company, while cutting in half its overall debt.

Industry emerged as a winner from two landmark decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada on a legal gray area, aboriginal relations, which has clouded the future of the Mackenzie Gas Project.

Industry emerged as a winner from two landmark decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada on a legal gray area, aboriginal relations, which has clouded the future of the Mackenzie Gas Project.

Industry emerged as a winner from two landmark decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada on a legal gray area, aboriginal relations, which has clouded the future of the Mackenzie Gas Project.

Florida Gas Transmission emerged unscathed from wreckage of Hurricane Frances. The company reported no compressor station outages and no lingering operational impact. However it did call an overage alert day on Tuesday with a 25% tolerance. Gas demand was greatly reduced for on Saturday and Sunday. But on Monday demand increased significantly after Frances moved over the Florida Panhandle. As a result of the increase in demand, FGTs linepack became very low. FGT alerted customers in its market area of the overage alert. “Please closely monitor your scheduled quantities versus actual burn quantities,” the pipeline told shippers.

Christmas came early for NRG Energy in 2003. First, the company emerged from bankruptcy protection earlier this month and last Tuesday NRG closed on a $2.7 billion financing package.

Even before the utility-state regulators bankruptcy settlement emerged, a high profile state legislative proposal (SB 173) to address what some lawmakers perceived as “unreliable” energy price indexes failed to move from its house of origin in the California Senate to the legislature’s lower house assembly. The failure to meet the June 6 state legislative deadline renders the proposal virtually dead for this year with the possibility it could re-emerge next year as a so-called “two-year bill.”

The swing market emerged from the holiday weekend in a decidedly mixed mood. In the East, prices ranged to 15 cents up or down from flat Tuesday, but showed a pronounced bias to the downside. Western points were considerably more bullish, registering moderate gains in most cases but rebounding about a dollar in San Juan Basin and rising 20 cents or more at a few Rockies points.