Intended

El Paso Corp. swung to a profit in the second quarter, led by stronger-than-expected performance from its core natural gas pipeline division and from gains on some price risk investments. The Houston-based company reported quarterly net income of $141 million (21 cents/diluted share), well ahead of its losses of $246 million (minus 38 cents) for the same period a year ago and 3 cents above Wall Street estimates.

Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski last week introduced three bills intended to move forward his plan for a pipeline to tap the state’s vast natural gas reserves. Meanwhile, Democratic former governor Tony Knowles launched a bid for a third term and pledged, if elected, to undo Murkowski’s draft gas pipeline fiscal terms contract with a trio of producers that will build the pipe if the terms are to their liking.

Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski Wednesday introduced into the ongoing special legislative session three bills intended to advance ratification of a draft contract he negotiated with a trio of producers for development of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline (see Daily GPI, May 26).

This week’s two-day price rally ran out of gas (pun intended) Wednesday as prices retreated across the board by amounts ranging from a little less than a dime to about a quarter. The previous day’s natural gas futures drop of 7 cents, coupled with a plunge of nearly a dollar and a half in the May crude oil contract that day, were cited as the chief factor in the softness since fundamental weather-related demand is seeing little change.

FERC laid down the legal gauntlet for California regulators Wednesday by asserting “exclusive jurisdiction” over Sound Energy Solutions’ planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal for the Port of Long Beach, CA.

The implementation of price-cap proposals intended to aid California’s beleaguered wholesale electricity markets could lead to a significant rise in the number of power outages in the state this summer by reducing available generating supplies, according to a new report issued by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Policy. It warned that a $150/MWh “hard cap,” which some Capitol Hill lawmakers had endorsed, could idle as much as 3,600 MW of natural gas-fired capacity in California, depending on the price of natural gas this summer.

The implementation of price-cap proposals intended to aid California’s beleaguered wholesale electricity markets could lead to a significant rise in the number of power outages in the state this summer by reducing available generating supplies, according to a new report issued by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Policy. It warned that a $150/MWh “hard cap,” which some Capitol Hill lawmakers had endorsed, could idle as much as 3,600 MW of natural gas-fired capacity in California, depending on the price of natural gas this summer.

Almost five months after Procter & Gamble (P&G)announced it intended to use EnergyGateway.com’s natural gasmarketplace to acquire gas supply for all of its manufacturingfacilities in the United States and Canada, the branded companylabeled its online experience a success.

Although the creation of Westar Energy did not follow the pathoriginally intended, plans for the utility holding company were setin motion last week when Western Resources announced it will splitthe company into two separate entities, one covering electricutility businesses and another for its non-electric operations.Both companies will be public entities. The separation is expectedoccur through a voluntary exchange offer expected to be completedprior to year-end.