Immediately

Tennessee implemented an Imbalance Warning for market-area Zones 5 and 6 Thursday, saying effective immediately it requested that customers match physical flow with scheduled quantities to prevent imbalances in those zones that would threaten the pipeline’s operational integrity. “Due to the emergent repair issue at Station 321 and high demand in the Northeast, Tennessee does not have the ability to absorb imbalances caused by underdeliveries by receipt point operators into the system and overtakes from the system by delivery point operators.”

Tennessee implemented an Imbalance Warning for market-area Zones 5 and 6 Thursday, saying effective immediately it requested that customers match physical flow with scheduled quantities to prevent imbalances in those zones that would threaten the pipeline’s operational integrity. “Due to the emergent repair issue at Station 321 and high demand in the Northeast, Tennessee does not have the ability to absorb imbalances caused by underdeliveries by receipt point operators into the system and overtakes from the system by delivery point operators.”

Oregon officials declared almost immediately following FERC’s conditioned approval Thursday of the proposed Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and connecting transmission pipeline that they will appeal next month to the federal regulators and through the appellate court system if necessary. The backers of the LNG project, however, expressed confidence that they will have all necessary local, state and federal permits by the end of next year.

President Bush last Tuesday signed a $630 billion stopgap funding measure that ended the decades-old moratorium on offshore oil and natural gas drilling and one-year ban on oil shale development in the Intermountain West. Surprisingly there was little reaction from producers, who have long sought expanded offshore access, due largely to the fact the upheaval in the financial markets has overtaken events Producers also realize that, given that there will be a changing of the guard at the White House and possibly in Congress, the removal of the bans could be short term.

ConocoPhillips announced changes to senior management. Effective immediately, John Carrig, currently executive vice president, finance, and CFO, will become president and COO. He will continue to report to CEO Jim Mulva. Jim Gallogly, currently executive vice president, refining, marketing and transportation, will become executive vice president, exploration and production. Willie Chiang, currently senior vice president, commercial, will become senior vice president, refining, marketing and transportation. Greg Goff, currently president, strategy, integration and specialty businesses for refining, marketing and transportation, will become senior vice president, commercial. Ryan Lance will remain president, exploration and production for Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Gallogly, Chiang and Goff will report to Carrig.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked President Bush Wednesday to “immediately direct” the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to use its existing emergency authority under the Commodity Exchange Act to restore order to the crude oil and gasoline markets in the United States (see Daily GPI, June 25).

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced Wednesday the resignation of Chairman Reuben Jeffery III, effective immediately. Jeffery served as chairman of the CFTC since July 2005. Prior to his appointment by President George W. Bush, he served as special assistant to the president and senior director for international economic affairs at the National Security Council. Jeffery is departing the CFTC for the U.S. Department of State, where he has been nominated and confirmed as under secretary of state for economic, energy and agricultural affairs by Bush and will begin serving in that capacity as of Thursday. To replace Jeffery, the CFTC said it has elected Walter Lukken to serve as acting chairman. Lukken will exercise the executive and administrative functions of the commission until a new chairman has been appointed by Bush and confirmed by the Senate.

The first regulatory filings were made last week for the two proposed transactions that, if completed, will bring to an end the 90-year-old Aquila Inc.

State regulators in Washington last week fined electric and gas utility Puget Sound Energy (PSE) $995,000 for violating consumer privacy laws by intentionally sharing private customer information with an outside marketing partner without the customers’ written permission.