Identifying

Whether Range Resources unit Range Production Co. drilling in the Barnett Shale caused alleged water well contamination is a tough call, but it can be made on the evidence available, staff of the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) told hearing examiners in its closing statement on the case Tuesday.

Congress should address the role of “primary regulator” in its financial reform legislation, identifying the products and markets over which the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) should have primary jurisdiction and the ones over which the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) should be the primary regulator, to avoid the kind of jurisdictional head-butting that the CFTC and FERC engaged in following the implosion of hedge fund Amaranth Advisors LLC, a legal expert said Thursday.

Tennessee reported identifying a leak on the North Odem 3A-100 lateral between Main Line Valve 3 and Station 9 near Odem, TX. The Morgan meter was required to shut in. Tennessee allowed shipper nominations there to remain in place for Friday’s gas day, but said nominations were being taken to zero in the Timely cycle for Saturday until further notice.

Tennessee reported identifying a leak on the 500-1 line at valve 526-1A, and effective Sunday morning had required two Lake Washington Dehydration meters (#010555 and #101596) to shut in until further notice. Shippers accessing those meters were allowed to keep nominations in place for Monday’s gas day, but were required to reduce their nominations to zero for Tuesday’s Timely Cycle nominations. The pipeline declared a force majeure in conjunction with the event.

Tennessee declared force majeure Tuesday after identifying a leak on its 509A-300 line (the Southwest Leg of the Blue Water System) offshore Louisiana. Divers were being dispatched to assess the damage, the pipeline said, adding that it believes the leak is on a lateral (the 509A-400 line) off 509A-300, and if it can be successfully isolated only one meter (East Cameron 254B) would need to remain shut in. However, that meter and 14 others were required to shut in Tuesday until further notice. Tennessee said it was allowing nominations to remain in place for the Tuesday and Wednesday gas days, but shippers would be required to cut their nominations to zero at affected meters Thursday if they are still shut in. About 40,000 Dth/d is currently scheduled on this line under Tennessee’s capacity.

The Department of Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) has issued a final rule that amends pipeline safety regulations to require operators of natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines to prepare and follow procedures for periodic inspections of facilities located in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico and its inlets.

Prices rose mostly by double-digit amounts Thursday, but traders had trouble identifying what caused the rebound a day after the upward trend earlier in the week had come to a halt. Gains were fairly consistent throughout all regions in ranging from a little less than a dime to about 20 cents.

NGPL shut in two receipt points in the immediate area shortly after identifying a mainline failure in Caddo County, OK shortly before 1 p.m. CDT Friday. No injuries or significant physical damage to the surrounding area have been reported, according to the pipeline. It said it would use its “operational flexibility to minimize the impact to shippers for today’s [Friday] gas day and most likely for future days.” The incident resulted in a few transportation constraints; see the bulletin board for details. No delivery points were being impacted Friday, the pipeline said, but delivery points along the A/G Line (Segments 15 and 17) “are at a slight risk of being impacted.”

A six-page list released by the White House last week identifying numerous contacts between Bush administration officials and former energy giant Enron Corp. “does not by a long stretch” comply with the Senate’s subpoenas for more exhaustive records and documents, said a spokeswoman for Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT).