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Questar Pipeline has called on FERC to jettison the proposedmerger of powerhouses Sempra Energy and KN Energy, insisting thedeal would “undermine” competition in the gas and electric marketsin southern California.

Natural gas is one of the factors lurking behind the scenes ofLong Beach’s continuing quest to buy a section of SouthernCalifornia Edison Co.’s power distribution system within its cityborders. The city recently rejected an offer by Edison that wouldhave ended the municipalization campaign. At least part of thereason for the city’s resolve is the likelihood it will be a majorend-point for large new gas loads. But that appears to be a smallpart of a much larger scheme behind the city’s recent activities.

The Mexican Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) awarded thelicense to build and operate a gas distribution system in the LaLaguna-Durango geographic zone in north-central Mexico toDistribuidora de Gas Natural de La Laguna-Durango S. de R.L. deC.V. (DGN), wholly owned by San Diego-based Sempra EnergyInternational.

Petal Gas Storage, a subsidiary of Crystal Oil, announced itsigned a major 20-year gas storage agreement with Southern Co.yesterday for firm deliverability from its Mississippi salt cavernstorage facility of 700,000 MMBtu/d of gas and storage injectioncapacity for 350,000 MMBtu/d. Southern Company Services will managethe capacity and will act as an agent for its affiliated operatingelectric utility companies: Mississippi Power, Alabama Power,Georgia Power, Gulf Power and Savannah Electric.

Transwestern Pipeline has filed an application with FERC tobuild a new 10,000 hp compressor station near Thoreau, NM, off ofits San Juan Lateral and to add facilities to its Bloomfield and LaPlata compressor stations. The $11.6 million project will providean additional 50 MMcf/d of firm transportation service on the SanJuan Lateral downstream of the Bloomfield compressor station andwill allow Transwestern to operate its mainline at its certificatedcapacity of 1.1 Bcf/d on a firm basis.

Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) staff, ONEOK Inc. and itssubsidiaries Oklahoma Natural Gas (ONG) and Kansas Gas Service(KGS) reached negotiated settlement of a number of interim issueson rates, unbundling of assets and competitive bidding for gasservices. The stipulated agreement must still be approved by OCCcommissioners. Once that happens, it will hasten wholesale and thenretail unbundling in the state.

In order to keep pace with Maryland’s gas deregulation,Washington Gas filed a rate plan with the Maryland Public ServiceCommission (MPSC) yesterday, in which the utility proposed afive-year rate freeze and plan that would result in credits oncustomers’ bills if the company’s return on equity (ROE) exceeds12%. Washington Gas hopes to have the filing approved this fall.

Cross Timbers Oil Co. purchased a 50% interest in Spring HoldingCo., a private Tulsa, OK-based oil and gas producer, for $42.5million. The deal is expected to close June 30.

Wisconsin Gov. Tommy G. Thompson said he supports phase two ofANR Pipeline’s Wisconsin 2000 Expansion that would add 194 MMcf/dof firm capacity to meet peak-day requirements and the needs of thegrowing power generation market in the state.