Gotten

Just so you’ll know: “The natural gas market is a real successstory…..FERC has gotten an enormous amount of things right. Themarket may not be unblemished, but there are lots who consider thenatural gas market the best market in the world offering genuineprice discovery on a daily basis across dozens of products. It’ssomething everyone should be proud of,” Robert Levin of the NewYork Mercantile Exchange told a FERC conference last week.

Just so you’ll know: “The natural gas market is a real successstory. …FERC has gotten an enormous amount of things right. Themarket may not be unblemished, but there are lots who consider thenatural gas market the best market in the world offering genuineprice discovery on a daily basis across dozens of products. It’ssomething everyone should be proud of,” Robert Levin of the NewYork Mercantile Exchange told a FERC conference yesterday.

Sonat said Wednesday it had gotten regulatory approval for a planto repair the July 5 rupture in its 14-inch Romere Pass Line offshoresoutheastern Louisiana (see Daily GPI, July24). Barring unforeseen problems, the pipeline hopes to begin thework today.

The NiSource-Columbia merger has gotten past two more hurdles on its way toward completion. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) unanimously approved the merger, leaving Virginia as the only state left out of the nine yet to approve it (see NGI, July. 10).

Southern Union Co. has gotten a thumbs up from the PennsylvaniaPublic Utility Commission (PPUC) for its pending mergers with threeNortheast utility companies — Fall River Gas Co., ProvidenceEnergy Corp. and Valley Resources Inc. The approval, which comesthree months after Southern Union’s application was first filed, isone of several required before the merger is approved. Still tocome are approvals from utility commissions in Rhode Island,Massachusetts and Missouri, state legislatures and variousregulators in the affected states.

Comprehensive legislation to restructure the electricityindustry appears to have gotten a jump-start in the Senate.

Sabine Pipe Line Co. has gotten the go-ahead from FERC torestructure its business as a limited liability company to takeadvantage of certain state and franchise tax benefits and gaingreater flexibility to raise capital.

El Paso Natural Gas may have gotten the industry’s largestChristmas bonus last week. Its announcement two weeks ago that itrecontracted all of its California-bound capacity for $37.5 millionwas a bit premature and a little understated. As it turned out,Enron North America Corp. upped the ante last week for 1.25 Bcf/dof firm transportation capacity on the pipeline by $8 millionfollowing a four-day open season.

El Paso Natural Gas may have gotten the industry’s largest Christmas bonus last week. Its announcement two weeks ago that it recontracted all of its California-bound capacity for $37.5 million was a bit premature and a little understated. As it turned out, Enron North America Corp. upped the ante last week for 1.25 Bcf/d of firm transportation capacity on the pipeline by $8 million following a four-day open season.