Moved

Citing a newfound “emphasis on the natural gas in the past eight months,” California regulators last Thursday moved ahead on several key natural gas issues, while delaying action on electricity issues that are caught up in concurrent state legislative proceedings. The regulators also provided an exemption for rolling blackouts for the major petroleum refineries in the state.

Citing a newfound “emphasis on the natural gas in the past eight months,” California regulators Thursday moved ahead on several key natural gas issues, while delaying action on electricity issues that are caught up in concurrent state legislative proceedings. The regulators also provided an exemption for rolling blackouts for the major petroleum refineries in the state.

With little in the way of fresh fundamental news, natural gas futures moved sideways Friday, as traders held the market to an extremely tight, six-cent trading range. A modest downtick at the closing bell was enough to pressure prices below unchanged on the day. The July contract finished at $3.742, down a half-cent for the session and 23.7 cents lower for the week. Since becoming the prompt month nearly four weeks ago, July is down 6.8 cents after trading as low as $3.67 (May 30) and as high as $4.44 (June 12).

National Grid USA’s proposed purchase of Niagara Mohawk Holdings Inc. moved one step closer to completion last Wednesday after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave its blessing to the deal. The merger, currently valued at $3 billion and first unveiled in September of last year (see NGI, September 11, 2000), still needs to clear a number of regulatory hurdles before it can be completed.

National Grid USA’s proposed purchase of Niagara Mohawk Holdings Inc. moved one step closer to completion Wednesday after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave its blessing to the deal. The merger, currently valued at $3 billion and first unveiled in September of last year (see Daily GPI, Sept. 6, 2000), still needs to clear a number of regulatory hurdles before it can be completed.

As work moved forward Tuesday on two new power sources to come on later this summer, the outlook in the immediate two months darkened with no apparent comprehensive solutions emerging from the state legislature.

PG&E Corp. moved another step closer to full approval of itsproposed 1,040 MW natural gas-fired plant to be located in MaricopaCounty, AZ. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors unanimouslyapproved a special use permit for the pending electric generationfacility to be positioned near Phoenix.

FERC moved with record speed to issue a certificate last week to Kern River Gas Transmission for its 135 MMcf/d mostly compression expansion to the natural gas-starved California market, but not all of the commissioners were happy with the sure-footed manner in which the project was approved.

FERC moved with record speed to issue a certificate last week to Kern River Gas Transmission for its 135 MMcf/d, mostly compression, expansion to the natural gas-starved California market, but not all of the commissioners were happy with the expedited manner in which the project was approved.