Order

With the ink barely dry on the FERC order approving part of thephase-two expansion of its storage caverns in Mississippi, PetalGas Storage L.L.C. last week kicked off an open season to determinewhether there’s a demand for another expansion.

Williams Energy Marketing & Trading has petitioned FERC toissue a declaratory order stating that its ban against “buy-sell”arrangements doesn’t apply to the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS),particularly to the Minerals Management Service’s (MMS) royaltyin-kind projects.

Williams Energy Marketing & Trading has petitioned FERC fora declaratory order stating that its ban against “buy-sell”arrangements doesn’t apply to the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS),particularly to the Minerals Management Service’s (MMS) royaltyin-kind projects.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last weekapproved construction of a proposed 60-mile, 130 MMcf/d pipelinelateral off El Paso’s mainline in Arizona to proposed Mexicanborder crossing facilities. The proposed $30 million pipe andborder crossing facilities are designed to serve several existingand proposed gas-fired power plants in Sonora.

It was no secret what bull traders in the natural gas pit had todo yesterday in order to propel the market higher; the charts toldthe story.

S&S Energy Products, a GE Power Systems business, wasawarded a $280 million contract from Reliant Energy of Houston toprovide 19 GE LM6000 aeroderivative gas turbine-generator sets,auxiliary and balance-of-plant equipment.

Making good on a promise made to the Federal Trade Commission(FTC) in order to close its merger with Sonat, El Paso Energyannounced the sale of the East Tennessee Natural Gas Co. to DukeEnergy Gas Transmission for $386.3 million in stock yesterday. Thetransaction is expected to close in the first quarter subject toFTC consent.

MRT issued an OFO Tuesday due to anticipated cold weather andoperational conditions; the order will remain in effect today anduntil further notice. It is interrupting all IT volumes andAuthorized Overrun gas flowing on the mainline north of theGlendale, AR, Station. MRT will not allow underdelivery of gasduring this time but will continue to accept positive imbalancenominations.

Nicor Gas said yesterday it has accepted the Illinois CommerceCommission’s (ICC) order for a performance-based rate (PBR) fornatural gas costs. Currently, the Naperville, IL-based distributorspends about $900 million a year to purchase gas, but the PBRprovides the financial incentive for it to buy gas at even lowerprices. Under the PBR formula, Nicor’s actual gas costs will becompared to a targeted benchmark that’s based on competitive marketprices. The difference between the actual gas costs and thebenchmark will be shared 50/50 between Nicor Gas and its customers.The PBR plan, which will go into effect Jan. 1, will not apply totransportation customers who purchase their own supplies from thirdparties.