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El Paso Corp. is continuing to look for ways to incorporate the All American Pipeline assets it purchased last year from Arco into its California pipeline systems. The company announced that its Mojave Pipeline subsidiary is holding an open season to support expansions to serve central California.

El Paso Corp. is continuing to look for ways to incorporate the All American Pipeline assets it purchased last year from Arco into its California pipeline systems. The company announced that its Mojave Pipeline subsidiary is holding an open season to support expansions to serve central California.

California’s energy woes have taken on the look and feel of a political campaign with the state’s beleaguered governor running a re-election campaign more than 18 months before voters go to the polls. However, if Hollywood were doing a movie on the continuing drama, none of the principal actors — except the governor — would be delivering predictable lines to the camera.

This summer, look for the weather to be slightly warmer than the 30-year average but slightly cooler than last summer with fewer “named” storms in the Atlantic Ocean. So says Sempra Energy Trading meteorologist Dan Guertin, who offered up his forecast at the North American Gas Strategies Conference in Houston yesterday.

Congressional lawmakers from California and other western statesrenewed their pleas for aid from the Bush administration to end thepower crisis in their region during a House subcommittee hearinglast week.

Several congressional lawmakers from California yesterdayrenewed their pleas for help from the Bush administration to endthe power crisis in their home state, with some urging a Housesubcommittee to direct FERC to install caps on wholesale power inthe short term while others suggested adjusting Daylight SavingsTime in the region to conserve power.

Although they have gotten much of the blame, retail rate capsaren’t the reason that California’s power market has spiraled outof control since last summer, a state consumer advocate told aHouse panel yesterday.

Lost in the higher profile aspects of California’s chronicpage-one headlines surrounding its energy crisis is the statelegislature’s inclusion of a ban on retail direct access powerdeals, dealing the few remaining nonutility power retailers whatcould be a death blow unless a corrective legislative solution isfound. That corrective action was pursued last week when the headof the state Senate energy committee, state Sen. Debra Bowen,proposed to reinstitute retail energy sales (SB 27X) as part of themeasures being tossed around in the second month of a special statelegislative session called by the governor to address theemergency.

Once considered a problem in their oil exploration efforts, thehigh cost of natural gas is getting another look-see from EmpireEnergy. The Overland Park, KS-based producer said it would beginselling its natural gas reserves — which it used to squeeze off— from the Upper Cumberland Plateau region of north-centralTennessee once a natural gas pipeline is completed there. CoastalHydrocarbons LLC has begun laying a 4-inch line into the area andis expected to begin accepting gas in two to three months, Empiresaid. Pryor Oil Co., which holds a 40% interest in an explorationproject with 60% partner Empire, is now evaluating and high-gradingprogram leases to determine what wells to put into the natural gassales line. “Gas has been a hindrance in our exploration andproduction in that region due to the complexities it presentsduring drilling,” said Bryan S. Ferguson, Empire COO. “Previously,we didn’t have a market in which to sell the gas so while wedrilled oil wells, we either squeezed the gas off or held it information. With gas prices up and the market demand present, wefeel fortunate to now be able to put these assets to work for us.”Because of the fractured nature of the geology in the region,Empire said it was difficult to estimate the total gas reservespresent. However, every well drilled so far has had an “abundant”amount of natural gas.