Need

The Gas Industry Standards Board (GISB) will facilitate ameeting to be held at the Department of Energy (DOE) Jan. 26 on theneed for an organization to develop retail standards for the gasand electric industries. The meeting, to be held at DOE’s ForrestalBuilding, 1000 Independence Ave., SW, will begin at 8:30 a.m.Robert W. Gee, assistant secretary for fossil energy, will open themeeting. Representatives of companies and trade associations in thegas and electric industries, as well as interested individuals, areinvited.

Citing a need to meet future growth in the region, NW Natural, agas utility serving 477,000 customers in Washington, announcedplans to build a 52-mile, 24-inch pipeline from its existingfacilities near North Plains, WA, to the Williams Gas Pipeline inMolalla, WA. The company said yesterday it has filed a notice ofintent with the Energy Facility Siting Council (EFSC), a divisionof the Oregon Department of Energy. The total cost for the newpipeline, which NW Natural said would be complete by 2004, is $58million.

Citing a need to meet future growth in the region, NW Natural, agas utility serving 477,000 customers in Washington, announcedplans to build a 52-mile, 24-inch pipeline from its existingfacilities near North Plains, WA, to the Williams Gas Pipeline inMolalla, WA. The company said yesterday it has filed a Notice ofIntent with the Energy Facility Siting Council (EFSC), a divisionof the Oregon Department of Energy. The total cost for theexpansion, which NW Natural said would be complete by 2004, is $58million.

Despite slightly lower wellhead deliverability this yearcompared to last and the growing need for producers to increasedrilling just to maintain production because of steep declinerates, Natural Gas Supply Association President Skip Horvathinsisted yesterday there will be no gas supply “shortfalls” thiswinter. As long as buyers are willing to pay the price, the gaswill be there.

Discoveries are approaching 1 Tcf in a southern portion of theNorthwest Territories, which is emerging as Canada’s hottest newnatural-gas drilling play, fanning flames under a simmeringregulatory and political dispute over pipeline service throughAlberta.

If the first quarter is any indication, Exxon and Mobil needeach other’s help. Exxon’s earnings dropped to $1.02 billion from$1.82 billion in 1Q99 while Mobil experienced a drop from $715million to $471 million. For the merging companies, the fall-offrepresents more than a 33% reduction in net income for each companyfrom the same period last year.

Citing the need to accommodate increased Canadian gas suppliesflowing into the Midwest, the sponsors of Independence Pipeline andSupplyLink have urged FERC to promptly issue preliminarydeterminations (PDs) on the non-environmental aspects of theirpipeline projects.

Depressed gas liquids prices don’t affect the need foradditional liquids transportation capacity in the Gulf of Mexicoregion in the view of two companies that last week joined to expandLouisiana pipeline facilities.

Conoco plans to eliminate nearly a thousand positions in 1999due to low oil prices and a need to improve operational efficiency.The layoffs will result in a $50 million after-tax charge againstConoco’s fourth quarter earnings, the company announced Tuesday.Conoco also said it was reducing its 1999 capital budget by $500million to $1.8 billion.