Indefinite

As complaints and protests grew last week against the Gulf of Mexico moratoriums, both the six month ban on deepwater drilling and the indefinite suspension of drilling in shallow water, the Department of Interior backed off somewhat on the shallow water ban, issuing a directive for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) activities implementing stronger safety requirements, and saying shallow-water drilling that is in compliance with the new requirements could continue.

The economic recession and liquefied natural gas (LNG) market dynamics have caused the indefinite postponement of an LNG transshipment and storage terminal proposed by Newfoundland LNG Ltd. for Grassy Point on Placentia Bay on the southeast coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

The economic recession and liquefied natural gas (LNG) market dynamics have caused the indefinite postponement of an LNG transshipment and storage terminal proposed by Newfoundland LNG Ltd. for Grassy Point on Placentia Bay on the southeast coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

The California Electricity Oversight Board has called on FERC toorder the state Independent System Operator (Cal-ISO) to maintainexisting bid caps on wholesale energy, ancillary services andreplacement reserves until the Commission completes its probe ofthe California bulk market, initiates reforms and finds the marketsto be “workably competitive.”

El Paso postponed to an indefinite date Guadalupe Stationmaintenance that had been set for today and Wednesday. Wenden Aturbine work began Sunday, one day earlier than previouslyannounced, and will run through Friday, reducing Havasu Crossovercapacity by 100 MMcf/d, the pipeline said.

TriState Pipeline L.L.C. last week asked FERC to place the U.S. portion of its Chicago-to-Canada project on indefinite hold, which only added more fuel to industry speculation that the project’s future is tenuous at best.

The Illinois-Wisconsin Express Project, a proposed pipeline toserve the southern Wisconsin market, has been put on indefinitehold reportedly due to the inability of an unnamed Wisconsinutility to commit to the project. News of this comes one day afterTransCanada Pipelines and Nicor Inc. disclosed they have scrappedplans to proceed with their reconfigured Voyageur Pipeline projectthat would have served the same market. (See Daily GPI, Nov. 4)