Expected

Questar rescheduled last Tuesday’s planned ball launching toThursday, June 3. Major allocations are expected.

The merger of New Century Energies and Northern States Powerappears to be moving faster than expected. The companies announcedplans yesterday to hold their special shareholder meetings toapprove the merger in late June rather than in September. Theproposed merger requires shareholder approval as well as approvalor regulatory review by various federal and state agencies. Whencompleted the merged company will serve 3 million electricitycustomers and 1.5 million natural gas customers in 12 U.S. states.

As many had expected, the cash market retreated slightlyThursday from the early May aftermarket peaks posted Wednesday. Thedecline was moderate with most points off anywhere from a penny ortwo to just over a nickel.

The United States didn’t see much of a winter, but you can holdonto your hats this summer because the hurricane season may blowyou away.

Completion of the Unit #7 outage at NOVA’s Princess B CompressorStation, expected last week to be expedited to April 23 (see DailyGPI, April 14), has been extended to April 26.

The maintenance outage of Unit #7 at Princess B CompressorStation, originally scheduled for completion April 30, is nowexpected to end April 23 due to accelerated material delivery datesand additional crews on-site when possible, NOVA reported.

Crossroads Pipeline Co., a subsidiary of Nipsco Industries, saidThursday its open season to test shipper interest in the CrossroadsPipeline expansion exceeded the company’s expectations. Companiesexpressed interest in over 600,000 Dth/d for the proposedinterconnect. The open season for the Crossroads expansion beganFebruary 16 and ended March 31.

Crossroads Pipeline Co., a subsidiary of Nipsco Industries, said Thursday its open season to test shipper interest in the Crossroads Pipeline expansion exceeded the company’s expectations. Companies expressed interest in over 600,000 Dth/d for the proposed interconnect. The open season for the Crossroads expansion began February 16 and ended March 31.

As a precursor to an expected mid-April Supreme Court decisionon the Southern Ute Indian Tribe vs. BP Amoco rights and royaltycase, the Williams Cos., one of the defendants represented by BPAmoco, announced a partial settlement with the Southern Ute tribeThursday. The settlement released the Williams subsidiary involvedin the trial, Williams Production Co., from all claims included inthe lawsuit, but did not address key ownership issues.