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The schedule for an outage of KN Energy’s Pony Express Line, whichbegan Tuesday (see Daily GPI, April 26),has been revised to last through May 27, according to the Williamsbulletin board. Williams is not allowing nominations at the KN-Glavininterconnect (Franklin County, KS) during the outage.

TransTexas Gas Corp. of Houston said last week, followingdiscussions with a group representing a majority of its parentcompany’s note holders, it voluntarily filed for Chapter 11bankruptcy. The company said it believes the filing will allow forcompletion of its recapitalization involving TransTexas and parent,TransAmerican Energy Corp. Details of the recapitalization plan areexpected to be filed in bankruptcy court within 30 days.

The Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Serviceannounced plans last week to begin selling royalty gas productioncollected in its offshore Texas royalty in-kind (RIK) pilotprogram. The two-year joint initiative between the MMS and theTexas General Land Office will use an auction process that willtake place during the regular bidweek period each month, withdeliveries starting June 1.

Completion of the Unit #7 outage at NOVA’s Princess B CompressorStation, expected last week to be expedited to April 23 (see DailyGPI, April 14), has been extended to April 26.

Gas supply this year is expected to fall below last year’slevels and will struggle to meet projected demand, the IndependentPetroleum Association of America indicated in a report released toinvestors in New York yesterday. With the gas rig count down abouta third compared to 1998 levels, U.S. production is expected to bedown 1.2% this year to 18.75 Tcf, while gas imports are expected torise 2.7% to about 3.22 Tcf, and gas demand is expected to shoot up3.2% to 21.97 Tcf.

Viking Gas Transmission got some good news last week when FERCapproved a looping expansion of its system that will make itpossible for existing customers between the northern Minnesotaborder and West-Central Wisconsin to receive up to 28,000 Dth/d ofadditional gas supplies by the end of the year.

The Texas Railroad Commission (TRC) issued 611 original drillingpermits last month, down sharply from 979 issued in March of 1998.The total number of drilling permits issued for the year to date isalso down sharply. The TRC has issued 1,728 permits so far thisyear, down more than 1,200 from the 2,946 permits issued over thesame period of 1998.

Western Gas Resources-California last week applied to theCalifornia Public Utilities Commission to operate a Californiautility. Western-California, a subsidiary of Western Gas Resources,has acquired an option to buy the Steelhead Pipeline System andportions of the Sacramento River Gas System in northern Californiafor an undisclosed sum. Western is seeking to change the systems’status from proprietary to public utility.

Nipsco Industries Inc. subsidiary Energy USA Inc. last week completed its acquisition of TPC Corp., including its 66% interest in Market Hub Partners LP. The deal was finalized April 1 and is valued at about $150 million.