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Natural gas found in North Texas water wells did not come from the Barnett Shale but rather the gas-bearing Strawn formation, which is closer to the surface, hearing examiners at the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) said in a report released Monday. If accepted by commissioners, the finding would exonerate Range Resources Corp., which had been accused of contaminating the wells with its Barnett drilling activities.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has raised slightly the annual dollar limit for projects that natural gas pipelines with blanket construction certificates can proceed with on their own this year without having to obtain agency clearance first. In a final rule published in the Federal Register, FERC raised the automatic project cost limit to $10.5 million for 2010 from $10.4 million in 2009. This means that gas pipes holding blanket construction certificates can build, acquire, operate and/or replace facilities up to that dollar limit without having to request permission from the Commission. The agency also boosted to $29.9 million the prior-notice cost limit in 2010 for gas pipelines with blanket construction certificates. The prior-notice cost limit last year was $29.6 million. Projects at or below $29.9 million (but above $10.5 million) will be required to notify FERC in advance of any work during 2010, but they will not be subject to the certificate process. The Commission set $5.7 million as the annual limit that holders of blanket construction certificates can spend on underground storage testing and development without having to notify the agency. This is up from $5.6 million in 2009. The final rule took effect Feb. 24.

Piedmont Natural Gas is planning to build a new pipeline to deliver gas supplies to Duke Power’s Mill Creek gas turbine electric generation facility, which is scheduled to go into service by June 2003. The peaking plant will use eight simple cycle turbines to generate 640 MW of power. It will be located in Cherokee County, SC.

The rumor mill produced some major headlines yesterday withseveral dominant players in the energy industry apparently inmerger talks. Unicom Corp., parent of Commonwealth Edison, and PECOEnergy Co. were reported to be in discussions about forming a”merger of equals,” while Chevron now has its eye on Phillips.