Pared

A perpetual thorn in the side of Canadian gas, oil, pipeline and power development and major stumbling block to the Mackenzie mega-Pipeline project has been pared down to a manageable issue by a landmark native rights decision from the Supreme Court of Canada.

Pointing to the uncertain economic times, EnCana Corp. pared next year’s budget by 18% over this year’s levels and said it would pursue a “conservative, prudent and flexible” program that would keep natural gas levels flat compared with this year. The company also delayed plans to split into two independent companies “until the uncertain financial markets stabilize.”

Pointing to the uncertain economic times, EnCana Corp. pared next year’s budget by 18% over this year’s levels and said it would pursue a “conservative, prudent and flexible” program and would keep natural gas levels flat compared with this year. The company also delayed plans to split into two independent companies “until the uncertain financial markets stabilize.”

A pared-down energy bill, minus the hotly disputed $21.8 billion tax package and renewable electricity mandate, was overwhelmingly passed by the House Tuesday. The next stop for the measure is President Bush, who is expected to sign the legislation.

The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) Friday pared down a natural gas utility rate increase for a unit of Tucson-based UniSource Energy Corp., approving a $5 million increase for its UNS Gas utility, which serves 146,000 customers. The vote was 4-1.