Mystery

The U.S. West’s abundant wildlife and scenic beauty, which often are adjacent to prolific oil and natural gas reserves, have become a riddle wrapped in a mystery for regulators, to paraphrase Winston Churchill. The puzzle may never be adequately solved by everyone’s standards, but the Western Governors’ Association (WGA) took a big step last week by establishing a regional council to ensure that wildlife habitat is protected.

The U.S. West’s abundant wildlife and scenic beauty, which often are adjacent to prolific oil and natural gas reserves, have become a riddle wrapped in a mystery for regulators, to paraphrase Winston Churchill. The puzzle may never be adequately solved by everyone’s standards, but the Western Governors’ Association (WGA) took a big step Sunday in establishing a regional council to ensure that wildlife habitat is protected.

Information about how much damage Hurricane Rita inflicted on Gulf Coast onshore and offshore infrastructure continued to be somewhat of a mystery on Wednesday, with some producers continuing to assess their operations, while others began to restaff platforms. The Henry Hub natural gas delivery point operated by Sabine Pipe Line LLC remained under force majeure for the seventh day in a row because of power outages and flooding. And Chevron Corp. reported its deepwater Typhoon platform was turned upside down in the storm.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. revealed that it was the mystery buyer late last month of $300 million in Midcontinent gas reserves from Oneok Inc. subsidiary Oneok Resources (see NGI, Dec. 2). Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake said the purchase included 200 Bcfe of proved gas reserves, 60 Bcfe of probable and possible gas reserves and current gas production of 47,000 Mcfe/d. The company added that it expects the transaction to close on Jan. 31, 2003.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. revealed that it was the mystery buyer late last month of $300 million in Midcontinent gas reserves from Oneok Inc. subsidiary Oneok Resources (see Daily GPI, Nov. 26). Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake said the purchase included 200 Bcfe of proved gas reserves, 60 Bcfe of probable and possible gas reserves and current gas production of 47,000 Mcfe/d. The company said it expects the transaction to close on Jan. 31, 2003.

More than 1 Bcf/d of additional transportation capacity on El Paso Natural Gas was available to serve the gas-starved California market last year, but it went unused, claimed a witness for Southern California Edison during a FERC hearing yesterday exploring price-manipulation charges against the pipeline and its merchant power affiliates.

Although the public’s overall awareness of energy deregulationhas inched up over the past three years, a majority of residentialand business customers surveyed say they still know next to nothingabout the issue and its potential effect on them, according to theresults of two major surveys issued last week.

Although the public’s overall awareness of energy deregulationhas inched up over the past three years, a majority of residentialand business customers surveyed say they still know next to nothingabout the issue and its potential effect on them, according to theresults of two major surveys issued this week.