Hurdles

The scale of the regulatory hurdles faced by the Mackenzie Valley Gas Pipeline project in Canada “rivals the complexity and uncertainty of regulatory and policy making found anywhere overseas,” according to gas analyst Paul Ziff.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) may not only fill the gas supply gap, but might end up displacing indigenous resources down the road if enough projects can overcome local opposition and line up the required financing for construction, according to several analysts speaking at the GasMart conference in Denver on Tuesday.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) may not only fill the gas supply gap, but might end up displacing indigenous resources down the road…if enough projects can overcome local opposition and line of the required financing for construction, according to several analysts speaking at the GasMart conference in Denver on Tuesday.

While quite a few hurdles stand in the way of completion, TransCanada Pipelines successful purchase of Gas Transmission Northwest Corp. (GTN) from National Energy & Gas Transmission (NEGT) for US$1.703 billion, including US$500 million of assumed debt, would give the Canadian pipeline giant a massive new direct link to markets in the Pacific Northwest, California and Nevada.

Classifying recent local media reports that Dominion’s proposed Greenbrier pipeline was in trouble as “misunderstandings,” Dominion spokesman Bob Fulton said the company’s pipeline project — despite a few bumps in the road — is still currently on target to meet its Nov. 2005 in-service date.

Classifying recent local media reports that Dominion’s proposed Greenbrier pipeline was in trouble as “misunderstandings,” Dominion spokesman Bob Fulton said the company’s pipeline project — despite a few bumps in the road — is still on target to meet its Nov. 2005 in-service date.

The proxy battle that began Tuesday for control of El Paso’s board is unlikely to be forestalled by the actions last week of El Paso’s directors, according to analysts. El Paso CEO Williams Wise stepped down despite earlier plans to retire at the end of the year and the company named director Ronald Kuehn, a former Sonat executive, as its new CEO.

The proxy battle that began Tuesday for control of El Paso’s board is unlikely to be forestalled by the actions last week of El Paso’s directors, according to analysts. El Paso CEO Williams Wise stepped down despite earlier plans to retire at the end of the year and the company named director Ronald Kuehn, a former Sonat executive, as its new CEO.

A new run is being taken at one of the tallest hurdles confronting natural gas supply development in Canada, fear of emissions from “sour” reserves, laced with lethal hydrogen-sulphide, which make up about a third of Canada’s gas resources. This time the scientific effort will be quartered in the northeastern United States in an independent laboratory far removed from conflicts in the western provinces.