Million

FERC last week gave Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line the go-aheadto build a $1.2 million lateral and associated facilities in NorthCarolina over the objections of state regulators, who argued thefacilities would constitute a bypass of a local distributioncompany.

Sempra Energy Trading entered into a one-year, $30-$35 milliongas management contract with California’s Department of GeneralServices (DGS) yesterday. Under the terms of the contract, SempraEnergy Trading will provide natural gas management for a total of117 state government buildings including San FranciscoInternational Airport.

Conoco Global Power, Conoco’s power subsidiary, announced plansto build a $250 million, 420 MW cogeneration plant at Dupont’sSabine River Works facility near Orange, TX. Conoco also announceda 10-year tolling agreement with PG&E Energy Trading in whichthe San Francisco-based company will provide the 80-90 MMcf/d ofgas for the plant while gaining the right to dispatch up to 250 MWof the project’s output. The value of the tolling agreement was notdisclosed. Conoco will be the project manager during construction,then give way to Dupont, which will operate the facility when it isfinished. Commercial operations are scheduled to begin in 2001.”This is the largest agreement of this kind PG&E Energy Tradinghas in Texas. What’s more, this energy will be sold into theEntergy power grid, making it even more valuable,” said TonyChovanec, vice president of PG&E Energy Trading’s marketingoperations.

Texas Gov, George W. Bush Friday signed into law a bill torestructure the state’s $19 billion electric industry.

NiSource has named former Vastar CEO William A. (Andy) Lang asthe new president and COO of TPC Corp., which it purchased fromPacifiCorp for $150 million in April. Lang and several other newofficials have been hired to rebuild TPC’s energy marketingoperations and grow its existing portfolio management business.

NiSource has named former Vastar CEO William A. (Andy) Lang asthe new president and COO of TPC Corp., which it purchased fromPacifiCorp for $150 million in April. Lang and several other newofficials have been hired to rebuild TPC’s energy marketingoperations and grow its exiting portfolio management business.

Columbia Gas Transmission sold its Project Penny gatheringpipeline and compressor facilities in Pennsylvania and New York toNorse Pipeline for $21.5 million. Norse is an affiliate of SchansonEnergy LLC, the energy investment arm of Schanson CapitalManagement of Los Angeles, and Nornew Inc., an integrated oil andgas exploration company focused mainly on the Appalachian Basin andthe Maritime provinces in Atlantic Canada. Norse Pipeline’sdomestic operations are based in Houston and Jamestown, NY. ProjectPenny consists of seven compressor station locations and about 341miles of gas pipeline in northwestern Pennsylvania and southwesternNew York. Constructed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, theProject Penny facilities have no direct connection to ColumbiaTransmission’s other pipeline facilities and are not necessary forthe company to provide its core services of interstate gastransportation and storage. The purchase of Project Penny makesNorse Pipeline the largest gas gatherer in the northern AppalachianBasin, with access to about 6,500 gas wells in New York andPennsylvania and the capacity to gather more than 100,000 Mcf/d.

Columbia Gas Transmission sold its Project Penny gatheringpipeline and compressor facilities in Pennsylvania and New York toNorse Pipeline for $21.5 million. Norse is an affiliate of SchansonEnergy LLC, the energy investment arm of Schanson CapitalManagement of Los Angeles, and Nornew Inc., an integrated oil andgas exploration company focused mainly on the Appalachian Basin andthe Maritime provinces in Atlantic Canada. Norse Pipeline’sdomestic operations are based in Houston and Jamestown, NY.

Ground was broken this month for development of a $275 million,540 MW natural gas-fired power plant in Arizona by San Jose,CA-based Calpine Corp., and close observers of California electricrestructuring are indicating this plant may be the first of manymore out-of-state plants designed to serve California.