Fight

The lengthy and at times acrimonious fight between Oneok and theOklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) over upstream unbundlingappears to be over. On Thursday, the OCC voted 2 to 0, with onecommissioner absent, to unbundle the upstream gas gathering andstorage services of Oklahoma Natural Gas (ONG) and Kansas GasService, divisions of Oneok Inc.

Determined to fight to the end, NiSource took its $68/shareoffer ($5.6 billion) directly to Columbia Energy Group shareholderson Friday. It also filed litigation against Columbia and itsdirectors in the Delaware Chancery Court in an attempt to gain anopportunity to nominate a director to fill a vacant seat onColumbia’s board.

Shippers hoping to line up firm capacity to California on ElPaso better be ready to fight for it, according to Jerry Strange,El Paso director of transportation marketing.

Shippers hoping to line up California capacity coming open on ElPaso better be ready to fight for it, according to Jerry Strange,El Paso director of transportation marketing.

A casual observer of yesterday’s market would look at the tighttrading range, low volatility and unchanged settlement and concludeit was a quiet trading day at the New York Mercantile Exchangewhere neither bull nor bear prevailed. But beneath February’s4-cent trading range and $1.714 settlement price, a battle waswaged as commercial traders in opposing camps, unencumbered bylocals who have largely moved on to March dealings, trieddesperately to influence a move in their direction. And so, as asource from a mid-sized gas marketer lamented, “the big boys wereat it again.”

Atlanta Gas Light Services has vowed to fight a decision by aGeorgia Public Service Commission hearing officer that wouldprohibit the company from using the name of its utility affiliate,Atlanta Gas Light. The marketing affiliate filed an appeal June 26,contending the initial decision, if upheld, would “reducecompetition in direct violation of the statutory purposes of the[Georgia] Natural Gas Act” when the deregulated market opens thisfall.