Passes

The House late Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to approve an amendment to an Interior Department spending bill that would block new oil and natural gas drilling on 36 disputed leases off the central coast of California.

Offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) terminals came closer to reality last Tuesday with the passage of H.R. 3983 by the House of Representatives. If the Maritime Transportation Antiterrorism Act of 2002 becomes law in its current form, among other things it would allow the Department of Transportation to license offshore port facilities for both LNG and CNG, an option currently reserved only for oil.

The Alaska House of Representatives has sent a strong message to gas producers, who so far have been pessimistic about building a privately-owned pipeline system to transport Alaska’s vast natural gas resources to markets in the Lower 48 states: “Build it or we will.” The House passed a bill last Monday sponsored by Rep. Jim Whitaker (R-Fairbanks) to authorize a feasibility study of the state building its own gas line.

The House Financial Services Committee last week approved a bill that would provide the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with expanded authority, create a new public regulatory board to oversee accountants, and require greater corporate disclosures.

Duke Energy and Westcoast Energy Inc. announced Friday that Duke Energy’s acquisition of Westcoast Energy took another major step forward as the Federal Trade Commission granted early termination of the final period for review under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Act.

The proposed 700 MMcf/d Millennium Pipeline project from Ontario to New York City crossed a key environmental hurdle when the National Marine Fisheries Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a favorable biological opinion late last month. The Fisheries Service said the project’s Hudson River crossing would have only minimal impact on the endangered shortnose sturgeon.

The proposed 700 MMcf/d Millennium Pipeline project from Ontario to New York City crossed a key environmental hurdle last week when the National Marine Fisheries Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a favorable biological opinion. The Fisheries Service said the project’s Hudson River crossing would have only minimal impact on the endangered shortnose sturgeon.

As midnight was closing in Thursday, the lower house Assembly in California’s legislature passed on a 41-32 vote a revised rescue package to restore Southern California Edison Co.’s financial viability and to inject a healthy dose of re-regulation into the market for small residential and commercial electricity consumers. The measure goes back to the state senate where it faces an uncertain fate.

Defying the predictions of political pundits, the Republican-led House yesterday passed landmark energy legislation that gives small producers multi-billion dollar tax breaks and lays the foundation for oil and natural gas exploration and production to begin in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) within the next decade. The House bill was a major victory for President Bush, who has backed drilling in ANWR as part of his national energy policy.