Obtained

Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) has called for an internal Interior Department investigation into a recently obtained e-mail from a Utah lobbyist that he believes suggests that agency officials may have conspired behind closed doors to “fix” new land-use plans to assure more oil and natural gas development on wilderness-quality lands in the state.

A federal judge in Washington DC has ordered the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to turn over to E.& J. Gallo Winery documents obtained during an investigation into the natural gas trading activities of WD Energy Services Inc. for use in Gallo’s lawsuit against the now-defunct U.S.-based energy trading unit of EnCana Corp.

A federal judge in Washington DC has ordered the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to turn over to E.& J. Gallo Winery documents obtained during an investigation into the natural gas trading activities of WD Energy.

A KeySpan Corp. affiliate announced Friday it is offering all of its remaining 6,580,392 shares of common stock of the Houston Exploration Co., equating to a 24% interest, in a public offering, completing KeySpan’s plan announced more than a year ago to sell out of the E&P company it founded in the 1980s and focus on regulated assets in the East.

A KeySpan Corp. affiliate announced Friday it is offering all of its remaining 6,580,392 shares of common stock of the Houston Exploration Co., equating to a 24% interest, in a public offering, completing KeySpan’s plan announced more than a year ago to sell out of the E&P company it founded in the 1980s and focus on regulated assets in the East.

The final local permit from the city of Ensenada was obtained Friday by Sempra Energy enabling the company to plan to start construction early next year on its Costa Azul liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal along the Pacific Coast of North Baja, Mexico, according to a report over the weekend in the Los Angeles Times. Sempra made no formal announcement, although it has a conference call scheduled for Thursday to report third quarter financial results.

The final local permit from the city of Ensenada was obtained Friday by Sempra Energy enabling the company to plan to start construction early next year on its Costa Azul liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal along the Pacific Coast of North Baja, Mexico, according to a report over the weekend in the Los Angeles Times. Sempra made no formal announcement, although it has a conference call scheduled for Thursday to report third quarter financial results.

Drawing lots of lender interest, Bellevue, WA-based Puget Energy announced Wednesday that it obtained two new lines of credit totaling $500 million, involving 17 foreign and domestic banks and including a three-year $350 million unsecured credit line for its major utility subsidiary, Puget Sound Energy (PSE). Its nonutility construction arm, InfrastruX Group, will have a three-year, $150-million line for its operations nationally. Puget said the new credit facility will be used for general corporate purposes, and specifically for the utility, it will be used “primarily to back up the insurance of commercial paper, one of the company’s least expensive sources of borrowed funds.”

SG Resources Mississippi LLC (SGRM) has obtained bi-directional pipeline interconnect agreements with Gulfstream Natural Gas System LLC and Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Corp. (Transco), instrumental to its plans to build the Southern Pines Energy Center, a 12 Bcf high-deliverability salt cavern storage facility planned for Greene County, MS. Initial construction plans were approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last year. The Houston-based subsidiary of SGR Holdings LLC, SGRM already has executed similar pipeline interconnect agreements with Florida Gas Transmission Co. (FGT) and Destin Pipeline Co. LLC. Southern Pines is expected to be completed in 2005, offering two storage caverns that will be capable of supporting gas withdrawal rates of up to 1.2 Bcf/d and injection rates of up to 0.6 Bcf/d. The facility will have dual 24-inch bi-directional interconnects to FGT near Station 11, Gulfstream at Station 10, and Destin and Transco’s Mobile Bay lateral line with access to Station 85. In-direct access also will be provided to the Southern Natural Gas Tennessee Gas Pipeline, FGT, Gulfstream and Gulf South Pipeline systems from the interconnect with Destin.