Headache

The Canadian natural gas community shows signs of curing itsexcess-capacity headache the easy way — by finding enoughsupplies with a few major wells to fill up the expanded pipelinegrid.

The legal problems of Mountain Energy Corp., a Midwest gasmarketer that has been accused of defrauding customers andsuppliers out of millions of dollars, are mounting.

Last week was an “Excedrin headache” kind of week for KinderMorgan Inc. It began with the company trying to get a Coloradocourt to toss out a Justice Department complaint alleging thataffiliate Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America (NGPL) failed toobtain the necessary air quality permits for a compressor stationit built in Colorado more than 20 years ago. The complaint, whichJustice brought on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency,seeks the maximum statutory penalties from the company, which couldsoar into the millions.