Fulfilling

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter has picked five new members for the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC), fulfilling a campaign promise to increase and broaden the representation and pool of experience of the panel that oversees the state’s energy development.

The $350 million settlement of class action litigation Wednesday by Sempra Energy is a major step toward fulfilling a promise made last fall by CEO Stephen Baum to put an end to litigation against the company (see Daily GPI, Jan. 5). However, Sempra still faces four outstanding legal actions by the California Attorney General’s Office — three in the courts and one at FERC.

Fulfilling NGI sources’ predictions, the cash market was able to shrug off Tuesday’s significant softness and post rebounds at all points Wednesday (see Daily GPI, Aug. 10). Increasing power generation load in the Northeast more than offset cooling trends in the Midwest, and high temperatures continued to dominate the weather picture in the South and most of the West.

Norfolk,VA-based Virginia Natural Gas Inc. (VNG) has accused Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline of failing to meet its firm service obligations during peak winter months due to poorly maintained facilities. As a result, the local distribution company (LDC) said it suffered damages of more than $37 million because it was forced to pay for firm service that Columbia Gas did not deliver, and had to scramble elsewhere to meet the gas needs of its firm customers.

Norfolk,VA-based Virginia Natural Gas Inc. (VNG) has accused Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline of failing to meet its firm service obligations during peak winter months due to poorly maintained facilities. As a result, the local distribution company (LDC) said it suffered damages of more than $37 million because it was forced to pay for firm service that Columbia Gas did not deliver, and had to scramble elsewhere to meet the gas needs of its firm customers.

The prospect for California fulfilling soon its goal of having 15-20% reserve margins in its electric generation capacity is clouded by the current financial uncertainty facing the energy industry, and may not be resolved until there is some further consolidation, according to representatives of merchant generators speaking at an industry conference in San Diego last week.

Fulfilling most market watchers’ expectations, natural gas futures continued lower Monday as weakness in the early morning over-the-counter market translated into a gap lower open when the regular open-outcry session reopened at 9:30 a.m. (EDT). The September contract was the hardest hit, tumbling 16.2 cents to close at $2.544. A hefty estimated volume of 80,799 lent credence to the price move.

Kinder Morgan’s Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (NGPL)moved a step closer to fulfilling its year-and-a-half-old promiseto FERC yesterday, with the announcement that Akili, an e-businesscompany, has moved into an application and development phase of theonline capacity auction project for the pipeline system. The targetcompletion date of the auction application is mid-March, Akilisaid.