Entitled

In a case pitting a Sullivan County, NY, homeowner against his property owners association (POA), a Sullivan Civil Supreme Court judge has permanently barred Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. from drilling in the residential subdivision, which is located in the Marcellus Shale.

Canadian Superior Inc. said it plans to buy Challenger Energy Corp. in a friendly transaction worth an estimated C$78 million (US$69 million) including debt. The merger would give back to Canadian Superior a stake in a promising Trinidad natural gas project that it has been developing for several years. Calgary-based Canadian Superior is undergoing a restructuring after filing for bankruptcy earlier this year (see NGI, May 4). Under the merger agreement, Canadian Superior plans to issue 0.51 share, or C$0.435, for each Challenger share. The transaction would include the assumption of Challenger’s C$54 million in net debt. The transaction is part of a plan by Canadian Superior to restructure under Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. As part of the restructuring process Canadian Superior agreed to sell to UK-based Centrica plc a 45% interest in Block 5(c) offshore Trinidad, for US$142.5 million in cash (see NGI, June 8). The block is operated by BG Group, which holds a 30% stake, and Challenger, which still has a 25% stake. The discovery, made in 2005, may hold up to 5 Tcf (see NGI, Aug. 18, 2008). The combined company would produce an estimated 3,050 boe/d, 85% weighted to natural gas.

In a Jan. 28 story entitled “LNG Regasified in Canada Heads for U.S. Northeast by 2009” (see NGI, Jan. 28), NGI incorrectly stated that EnCana Corp.’s proposed Deep Panuke project offshore of Nova Scotia remained in the planning stages with no immediate decision to start construction on the horizon. In fact, Deep Panuke was sanctioned for development by EnCana’s board of directors in October 2007 (see NGI, Oct. 27, 2007) and is proceeding to construction, with first gas expected in 2010. NGI regrets the error.

In a Jan. 28 story entitled “LNG Regasified in Canada Heads for U.S. Northeast by 2009” (see Daily GPI, Jan. 28), NGI incorrectly stated that EnCana Corp.’s proposed Deep Panuke project offshore of Nova Scotia remained in the planning stages with no immediate decision to start construction on the horizon. In fact, Deep Panuke was sanctioned for development by EnCana’s board of directors in October 2007 and is proceeding to construction, with first gas expected in 2010. NGI regrets the error.

The widow of Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay stated in a court filing in Houston Friday that her husband never committed any crimes, and she is entitled to keep all of the property and money that the government is seeking from his estate.

Following the Energy Information Administration’s estimate that 67 Bcf was injected into underground natural gas storage during the week ended Oct. 8, November natural gas futures shot up 13 cents to notch a daily high of $6.96 as of 10:42 a.m. (EDT). However, that level did not hold.

Columbia Gas (TCO) cited a force majeure situation at the Chesapeake LNG plant in saying shippers under Rate Schedules X-131, X-132 and X-133 will be entitled to flow on a daily basis only one-fourth of their Liquefaction Demand volumes. The restriction began Thursday and will remain in effect until the situation is remedied, TCO said. It also issued an OFO to shippers under the FSS rate schedule that also have FT capacity and to NTS rate schedule customers. The OFO will become effective at 10 a.m. EST Sunday. TCO said the order was issued to preserve the integrity of its storage fields and operating performance, and to maintain its ability to provide no-notice service. See the bulletin board for details of OFO compliance.

The National Energy Board has started preparing a reportentitled Canadian Energy Supply and Demand 1998-2025, which isscheduled to be published in 1999. It will provide an analysis ofenergy trends, issues and developments impacting Canada over thenext quarter century. The Board will be taking public comments toobtain the views of interested parties. Written comments or papersmust be received no later than May 12. The first round of publicconsultations will take place in informal workshops in April invarious cities across the country. The Board has identified thefollowing tentative dates and locations for these publicconsultations: Calgary (April 8), Toronto (April 15), Montreal(April 17), Halifax (April 20), Ottawa (April 22) and Vancouver(April 28). Specific dates and locations will be finalizedfollowing the receipt of responses by interested parties. Fordetails see NEB’s website at www.neb.gc.ca/home.htm, or contactLorna Patterson at (403) 299-3987. Registration to participate inpublic discussion groups must be received no later than March 20