Launched

Kicking off the new year with a binge of open seasons, Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, LP (KMP) launched three separate offerings Tuesday for pipeline projects poised to bring new supplies of gas into Arizona markets and the Midwest.

Independent midstream natural gas company Crosstex Energy LP launched a $40 million initial public offering on Thursday with two million common units trading in a tight range of $19.46-$20.99 and ending the day at $20.10 on the Nasdaq. The common units represent about 28% of the limited partner interest in the company, which operates more than 1,500 miles of pipeline, two processing plants, and 49 natural gas treating plants in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Louisiana. Crosstex currently provides services for over 700,000 MMBtu/d of natural gas.

Independent midstream natural gas company Crosstex Energy LP launched a $40 million initial public offering on Thursday with two million common units trading in a tight range of $19.46-$20.99 and ending the day at $20.10 on the Nasdaq. The common units represent about 28% of the limited partner interest in the company, which operates more than 1,500 miles of pipeline, two processing plants, and 49 natural gas treating plants in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Louisiana. Crosstex currently provides services for over 700,000 MMBtu/d of natural gas.

The December aftermarket was launched on a moderately weak note Wednesday, with quotes for the first and second falling several cents below both end-of-November swing levels and monthly indexes in nearly all cases. The Rockies and California held up most strongly, ranging from flat to a few pennies higher and lower.

UBS Warburg Energy, which launched a domestic energy trading arm when it took over Enron Corp.’s decimated energy trading platform earlier this year, has decided to shutter its Houston offices and consolidate operations in Stamford, CT.

UBS Warburg Energy, which launched a domestic energy trading arm when it took over Enron Corp.’s decimated energy trading platform earlier this year, has decided to shutter its Houston offices and consolidate operations in Stamford, CT.

EnergyClear Corp. launched a new system Friday billed as the first industry-owned and operated over-the-counter (OTC) energy clearinghouse for clearance and settlement of OTC electricity and natural gas trades.

Nova Scotia’s Energy Minister Gordon Balser officially launched the province’s new Department of Energy Tuesday, and told a business audience in Halifax that the blueprint for the department will be its independent energy strategy, unveiled last December, which will set the tone for how much the oil and gas industry, coupled with eventual electricity deregulation, will grow in the frontier territory (see Daily GPI, Dec. 13, 2001).

The September aftermarket got launched on a generally softening note Friday. Most points fell between about a nickel and a quarter from end-of-August levels, and also started out anywhere from about 15 cents to more than 50 cents below their first-of-month indexes. (Trading was done for the Sunday-Tuesday period since deals had been cut on Thursday for the last two days of August.)