Measures

A test case has told the natural gas industry it can venture offshore of Canada’s west coast – if it is willing to wade through seas of environmental protest and local political resistance in British Columbia.

A test case has told the natural gas industry it can venture offshore of Canada’s west coast — if it is willing to wade through seas of environmental protest and local political resistance in British Columbia.

Short-term mitigation measures implemented by FERC in U.S. power markets have resulted in the elimination of price signals in certain parts of the country and have set in motion the “ultimate death spiral” by mitigating below the price of entry, Julie Simon, vice president for policy at the Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA), told a power industry conference last Thursday.

The House-Senate Energy Conference Committee approved some key provisions last week that pave the way for an Alaskan natural gas pipeline to be built, but one item prohibits a northern pipeline route across the Beaufort Sea and ultimately down the Mackenzie River in Canada. A proposal sponsored by Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-AK) and approved by the committee will require that the pipeline be built along the Alaska Highway south through the Railbelt and the Yukon to reach the lower 48 states.

The House-Senate Energy Conference Committee approved some key provisions that pave the way for an Alaskan natural gas pipeline to be built, but one item prohibits a northern pipeline route across the Beaufort Sea and ultimately down the Mackenzie River in Canada. A proposal sponsored by Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-AK) and approved by the committee will require that the pipeline be built along the Alaska Highway south through the Railbelt and the Yukon to reach the lower 48 states.

Proposals, alternatives and mitigating measures covering two proposed offshore oil and natural gas lease sales of 1.5 million acres in the eastern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) have been identified by the Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS). The two proposed sales under consideration are included in the MMS 2002-2007 oil and gas leasing program. Sale 189 is tentatively scheduled for December 2003, and Sale 197 is proposed for March 2005.

Proposals, alternatives and mitigating measures covering two proposed offshore oil and natural gas lease sales of 1.5 million acres in the eastern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) have been identified by the Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS). The two proposed sales under consideration are included in the MMS 2002-2007 oil and gas leasing program. Sale 189 is tentatively scheduled for December 2003, and Sale 197 is proposed for March 2005.

With FERC-ordered mitigation measures on wholesale power prices in the western part of the country set to expire later this year, Commission Chairman Pat Wood on Thursday disclosed that he’s traveling to California this week to, among other things, receive assurances that the region’s market rules and infrastructure are on enough of a solid footing that those caps can be lifted when they expire at the end of September.

Legislation to reauthorize the Office of Pipeline Safety and enhance pipeline security and safety in light of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks was introduced in the House of Representatives on Thursday by the leaderships of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee.