Moving

TransCanada PipeLines has completed sales of two more midstreamprocessing plants for $63 million, moving the company about a thirdof the way toward its goal of divesting $3 billion in midstream andinternational assets this year.

A deep-drilling exploration project in the southwest end of theoil/gas saturated San Joaquin Valley about 45 miles northwest ofBakersfield is moving into the production testing phase with itssponsors, Tri-Valley Oil and Gas, liking what they have seen inpreliminary analyses of the 19,100-foot-deep Project Ekho#1 testwell.

Moving ahead with plans to establish a strong presence in theCarolinas, Williams’ gas pipeline unit said yesterday it has filedan application with FERC to construct and operate the previouslyannounced Sundance expansion project.

Moving ahead with its strategy to focus on southwestern andwestern markets, Aquila Energy announced yesterday it has purchasedU.S. Gas Transportation (USGT) for an undisclosed price. Bothcompanies expect the deal to close by the end of the month.

The growth in Canada’s natural gas supply is moving northwardand at some point is expected to be “within reach” of Alaska, wherethe United States has “huge reserves” of gas. If this trendcontinues, the still-under-construction Alliance Pipelineconceivably one day could be transporting both Canadian and Alaskangas supplies, an executive with the pipeline said.

Kinder Morgan’s Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (NGPL)moved a step closer to fulfilling its year-and-a-half-old promiseto FERC yesterday, with the announcement that Akili, an e-businesscompany, has moved into an application and development phase of theonline capacity auction project for the pipeline system. The targetcompletion date of the auction application is mid-March, Akilisaid.

A futures screen that was almost a dime higher during morningcash trading and continued cold temperatures were enough to allowprices to put even more distance between themselves and indexesTuesday. Meanwhile, transport-constrained Northeast citygates wereback for a repeat performance of their skyrocket act from lateJanuary.

Moving another step closer to becoming a privately-held company,MidAmerican Energy announced yesterday that its shareholdersoverwhelmingly approved the company’s proposed sale to BerkshireHathaway Inc. The company anticipates receiving all requiredapprovals in the first quarter of this year.

In sharp contrast to falling prices in all other areas,Northeast citygates were moving higher Tuesday. By far the mostdazzling performance came from Transco deliveries into New YorkCity that spiked by about a dollar above $4, much as they had onNov. 30. Unlike the end of November, when Transco Zone 6-NYC quotespeaked at $4.75, Tuesday’s top end hit $5.05.