Officially

William Massey is no longer a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Congress officially adjourned for the year on Tuesday without the White House signaling its intent to re-nominate Massey for a third term.

Days after the company announced it would officially exit the wholesale energy marketing and trading business by the end of the third quarter, Kansas City-based Aquila Inc. reported a loss of $5.69 per share for the second quarter, compared to earnings per share of $1.21 in the second quarter of 2001.

Duke Energy Gas Transmission and NUI Corp. officially opened their new bedded salt natural gas storage facility in Saltville, VA, Wednesday. Saltville Gas Storage Co., a partnership between the two companies, will operate the high deliverability storage facility, which will have about 1 Bcf of working capacity this winter. The companies plan to add about 1 Bcf/year in working gas capacity until it reaches 6 Bcf in 2007, and then they will consider further expanding it to 12 Bcf.

Duke Energy Gas Transmission and NUI Corp. officially opened their new bedded salt natural gas storage facility in Saltville, VA, Wednesday. Saltville Gas Storage Co., a partnership between the two companies, will operate the high deliverability storage facility, which will have about 1 Bcf of working capacity this winter. The companies plan to add about 1 Bcf/year in working gas capacity until it reaches 6 Bcf in 2007, and then they will consider further expanding it to 12 Bcf.

Although officially spring on the calendar, it was still winter Monday if you live in the upper Midwest, the Northeast, or trade natural gas futures.

Appropriately for the first full day of spring, moderate springtime weather dominated both Friday’s weather picture and the weekend outlook. That was reflected in cash prices ranging from flat to down nearly 30 cents. Declines in the middle (a dime to 20 cents) were in the majority.

The Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB) and the National Energy Board (NEB) have agreed to suspend the review of EnCana Corp.’s Deep Panuke Offshore Gas Development Project. EnCana earlier this month requested a regulatory “time out” on its C$1.1 billion project for at least a year because of its questions about the project’s reserves, as well as the uncertainty of the marketplace (see Daily GPI, Feb. 18).

Nova Scotia’s Energy Minister Gordon Balser officially launched the province’s new Department of Energy Tuesday, and told a business audience in Halifax that the blueprint for the department will be its independent energy strategy, unveiled last December, which will set the tone for how much the oil and gas industry, coupled with eventual electricity deregulation, will grow in the frontier territory (see Daily GPI, Dec. 13, 2001).

Kern River Pipeline’s $29 million, 32-mile, 24-inch-diameter High Desert Pipeline lateral officially was completed last Tuesday almost a year before its major customer, an 810 MW electric generating plant, is due to come on line (July 2003). In the meantime, Kern River is accepting nominations for capacity on the 282 MMcf/d pipeline.