Gets

FERC last week gave the green light for ANR Pipeline to moveahead with construction of its Wisconsin Loop Expansion Project,which would provide about 116 MMcf/d of additional capacity toLDCs, marketers and power generators in the state. This puts ANRout in front of competing projects that also intend to vie for themarket.

FERC last week conditionally approved the formation of the12-member Midwest independent system operator (ISO), but somecommissioners expressed disappointment that moretransmission-owning utilities from the region hadn’t joined yet.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) earlier this weekapproved a comprehensive agreement with New Jersey Resources (NJR),parent of New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG), that would put it on afast-track to provide supplier choice to its residential customersby Jan. 1.

FERC has given the go-ahead to a major settlement that attemptsto resolve the looming decontracting problem on Texas EasternTransmission’s (Tetco) system while offering a significant ratereduction to its customers.

There will be no free rides on Canada’s newest gas supplyfrontier, after Nova Scotia’s Liberal government established aroyalty regime that it admits puts it on the expensive side ofoffshore development areas by international standards.

Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America’s (NGPL) proposal tospecify certain types of discounts in its tariff and avoid seekingFERC approval for each transaction won a partial victory last week.But nearly similar proposals of three El Paso Energy pipelines wererejected, and the trio was told to try again.

FERC disregarded the objections of Viosca Knoll Gathering andwaived guaranteed future revenue regulations to let a DestinPipeline expansion go forward last week. Destin plans to construct31 miles of pipeline from a platform at Viosca Knoll Block 900 to atie-in with a Destin lateral in Main Pass Block 279.

After several years on hold because of poor Rocky Mountainregion market conditions, TransColorado Gas Transmission’s Phase IIexpansion project is proceeding and should be in service inDecember. FERC approved the 300 MMcf/d expansion last week as didthe Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.

Louis Dreyfus Natural Gas received a payment of $40 million forearly termination of a long-term, fixed-price gas sales contract.The terminated contract, which was with an independent powerproducer, covered 4 Bcf/year of gas which would have been deliveredthrough 2006. The total volumes of 33 Bcf, covered by thisterminated contract, are now available to be sold to othercustomers or in the spot market. Proceeds will be used to reducebank debt. The payment monetizes a portion of the value of Dreyfus’portfolio of long-term, fixed-price contracts. The value of thesecontracts is not reflected on its balance sheet. In the aggregate,the remaining contracts have a present value (discounted 10%) inexcess of market of about $125 million.