Operation

The recently announced sales of its assets in a joint venture (JV) trading operation helped Sempra Energy to achieve one of its key goals for 2010 — exiting the commodities trading business — and the jettisoning of the money-losing segment, along with $1.8-1.9 billion in proceeds that the San Diego-based company expects from the sale, foreshadow brighter days ahead, according to CEO Donald Felsinger.

Houston-based private equity firm Quantum Energy Partners has formed Quantum Utility Generation LLC (QUG) to focus on the acquisition, operation and development of North American conventional and alternative energy projects. On the conventional side, gas-fired generation — both new-build and acquisitions — is particularly attractive, QUG’s CEO told NGI.

Houston-based private equity firm Quantum Energy Partners has formed Quantum Utility Generation LLC (QUG) to focus on the acquisition, operation and development of North American conventional and alternative energy projects. On the conventional side, gas-fired generation — both new-build and acquisitions — is particularly attractive, QUG’s CEO told NGI.

FERC Wednesday granted Liberty Gas Storage LLC a three-year extension of the deadline to complete the construction and place in operation an expansion of its storage facilities.

All the Mexican regulatory authorities that issued permits for the operation of Sempra Energy’s Energia Costa Azul liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal have assured the San Diego-based company they will not revoke the terminal’s operating licenses, according to a Sempra LNG spokesperson. A rescheduled Mexican court hearing Sept. 10 will confirm this, the spokesperson told NGI.

Natural gas drilling and exploration in an area of the Marcellus Shale “are incompatible with the operation of New York City’s unfiltered water supply system and pose unacceptable risks for more than nine million New Yorkers, according to the city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which is calling for a prohibition on drilling in the Catskills/Delaware watershed.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Tuesday issued a final General Conformity Determination (GCD) for Maryland, finding that construction and operation of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal and natural gas pipeline proposed by AES Sparrows Point LNG and Mid-Atlantic Express LLC conform to the regulations in the state’s implementation plan for air quality standards as required under the federal Clean Air Act. A separate final GCD is being prepared for Pennsylvania.

Natural gas drilling and exploration in an area of the Marcellus Shale “are incompatible with the operation of New York City’s unfiltered water supply system and pose unacceptable risks for more than nine million New Yorkers,” said the city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which is calling for a prohibition on drilling in the Catskills/Delaware watershed.

The second half of the 500-mile Midcontinent Express Pipeline (MEP) went into operation over the weekend, providing shale natural gas producers with a major route to eastern markets. This portion of the $1.3 billion line spans about 207 miles from Delhi, LA, to Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line’s (Transco) Station 85 in Butler, AL. Interim service on the first half of the pipeline — from Bennington, OK, to Delhi — began in April (see Daily GPI, June 16).