Party

EnCana Corp. is offering up to C$500,000 for information directly leading to the arrest and prosecution of the party responsible for recent bombings at company facilities in the Tomslake area near Dawson Creek, BC.

EnCana Corp. is offering up to $500,000 for information directly leading to the arrest and prosecution of the party responsible for recent bombings at company facilities in the Tomslake area near Dawson Creek, BC.

Just days after Democrats turned in a solid victory last week, a crack in the party’s armor surfaced as firebrand Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) challenged veteran Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), who at 53 years in the House is considered the dean of the chamber, for the chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Senate Democrats were engaged in a little in-fighting of their own as well.

Because FERC enforcement staff litigating charges against Energy Transfer Partners’ Oasis Pipeline LP disclosed to a third party the identity of a hotline caller that prompted an agency probe of the pipeline, Oasis last week called on an administrative law judge (ALJ) to waive privilege and confidentiality and require the disclosure of the caller’s name to the pipeline.

Because FERC enforcement staff litigating charges against Energy Transfer Partners’ Oasis Pipeline LP disclosed to a third party the identity of a hotline caller that prompted an agency probe of the pipeline, Oasis has called on an administrative law judge (ALJ) to waive privilege and confidentiality and require the disclosure of the caller’s name to the pipeline.

Portland, OR-based Northwest Natural Gas Co. said Tuesday it filed an all-party settlement in its pending general rate case with Washington state regulators. The application was filed last March for the 10% of the gas-only distribution utility’s customers who are located in Washington, seeking an average 4.8% increase in overall rates, its first such request in five years.

Spokane, WA-based Avista Utilities has reached a multi-party settlement in its natural gas and electric general rate cases in Washington state. The $37.3 million agreement calls for electric base rates to increase an average of 9.1% and gas base rates to go up an average of 2.4%, effective Jan. 1.

Puget Sound Energy (PSE) late Friday announced it has reached an all-party $179.4 million settlement in its ongoing general rate case proceeding at the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC), which will review the deal before making its final decision on the case covering the utility’s retail natural gas and electricity charges. A settlement stipulation was filed Friday with the UTC by the Bellevue, WA-based Puget Energy utility.

Plains Exploration & Production Co. (PXP) and a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) agreed to pay $162 million to an undisclosed third party to jointly acquire 11,500 net acres in the Piceance Basin. The leasehold is adjacent to PXP’s existing Piceance Basin natural gas assets (see Daily GPI, April 19, 2007). The agreement gives PXP and Oxy a 95% working interest in the acreage. Plains plans to operate the leasehold and estimated that it includes more than 800 future drilling locations and 75 million boe net potential of unproved reserves. The transaction is expected to close by the end of September.