Grows

PacifiCorp Energy Canada’s Enstor division said last week that it has acquired Dominion Canada’s 40% stake in the Alberta Hub natural gas storage facility. The company’s affiliate, PacifiCorp Power Marketing Inc. (PPM), said it plans to market the capacity and add more storage facilities to its portfolio in the near future. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

As its offshore energy sector grows and sets it further apart from other Canadian provinces, Nova Scotia last Wednesday released a new energy strategy that involves, among other things, establishing a Department of Energy, introducing limited competition for some electric power customers, adding a royalty trust from offshore proceeds and setting new air pollution standards. The strategy also expects “major future benefits” from using natural gas and has set a plan in motion to remove barriers that would allow the new system to operate on a firm commercial basis.

Former Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling has claimed in recent interviews that he was unaware of the details of off-balance sheet transactions that pushed the company toward bankruptcy in December, but The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that internal company documents indicate management and the board of directors considered the dubious deals “integral” to Enron’s growth. In recent days, Skilling has denied intimate knowledge of the transactions, while former CFO Andrew Fastow, who set them up, has indicated through attorneys that he did so with Enron management’s full knowledge.

Atmos Energy Corp.’s nonutility holding Co. Atmos Energy Holdings Inc., has bought some Kentucky-based market area storage facilities and associated pipeline assets for $13 million in cash. The assets will be utilized by subsidiary Woodward Marketing LLC, which also recently expanded its operations though the $3 million purchase of Innovative Gas Services Inc. (IGS) and the common stock of Southern Resources Inc.

Atmos announced plans to acquire the East Diamond Storage Field and pipeline facility assets in July. The storage field contains 1.8 Bcf of working gas capacity and has deliverability of about 20 MMcf/d.

While the shock of the probable demise of Enron monopolized conversation in all trading rooms (see related story), swing prices continued to shoot higher Wednesday as winter storms raged through much of the nation’s midsection and parts of the West. Cold temperatures were prevalent almost everywhere except in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states.

Although there still have been no formal announcements from any companies to proceed, support for a Mackenzie River Valley pipeline in the Northwest Territories is slowly growing, with aboriginal interests — considered key to any plan — steadily moving toward approval. One of the last communities uncommitted, the Acho Dene Koe, has joined a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to back the C$3 billion pipe.

The Rocky Mountains over the past 20 years have been established as one of the largest natural gas reserve regions in the Lower 48, but there is no lack of challenges for exploration and production companies to access and develop the resource, according to Richard H. Lewis, CEO of Prima Energy Corp.

The Rocky Mountains over the past 20 years have been established as one of the largest natural gas reserve regions in the Lower 48, but there is no lack of challenges for exploration and production companies to access and develop the resource, according to Richard H. Lewis, CEO of Prima Energy Corp.