Hosting

As the federal energy department hosting a third in a series of public education sessions on liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Los Angeles Thursday, the sponsor of the proposed Clearwater Port offshore LNG terminal project on the Southern California coast announced it now has “significant competitive advantages” from its merger into NorthernStar Natural Gas, Inc. and is prepared to go forward.

As part of a study to determine whether viable competition exists in the Texas natural gas pipeline industry, the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) is hosting seven workshops statewide to gather input from gas producers, gas gatherers, gas processors and gas pipeline operators.

Kimball Resources Inc. announced that it will be hosting an online bidding event beginning June 11 and running through June 18, including Requests for Quotations (RFQ) from DaimlerChrysler Corp., General Electric Aircraft Engines, Detroit Diesel and Ford Motor Co., which will entail approximately 26 separate RFQs for approximately 45 Bcf of gas on an annualized basis throughout North America. The term requested is for one year beginning July 1.

The Nova Scotia government took a page from the U.S. notebook last Thursday, hosting a forum that brought together industry, consumer and international expertise — including the U.S. ambassador — in a process to develop a secure energy strategy. The forum, which soon will lead to a formal policy, also set a precedent as the northern Canadian province aggressively pursues expansion of its vast resources.

The Nova Scotia government took a page from the U.S. notebook Thursday, hosting a forum that brought together industry, consumer and international expertise — including the U.S. ambassador — in a process to develop a secure energy strategy. The forum, which soon will lead to a formal policy, also set a precedent as the northern Canadian province aggressively pursues expansion of its vast resources.

AES Corp. disclosed in a regulatory filing made with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the Department of Justice (DOJ) last month commenced an antitrust investigation related to an agreement between AES Southland LLC and Williams Energy Services Co. The DOJ alleges that the agreement limits the expansion of electric generating capacity at or near certain plants owned by AES Southland. In connection with the investigation, the DOJ sent a civil investigative demand to AES Southland requesting the answer to certain interrogatories and the production of documents. AES Southland is cooperating with the terms of the civil investigative demand, AES noted. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in March of this year ordered Williams Energy Marketing & Trading and AES Southland to justify why they should not be found to have violated the Federal Power Act (FPA) by engaging in actions to drive up power prices in the California bulk market and potentially compromising the reliability of the transmission network (see Daily GPI, March 15). In California, Williams markets power produced from two generating units owned by AES. FERC said its investigation showed that Williams and AES appeared to have financial incentive to prolong outages from the two generating units to drive up prices.