Paves

The Millennium Pipeline Co. received two major environmental approvals from New York officials, which paves the way for construction of the 181-mile natural gas pipeline across New York’s Southern Tier and lower Hudson Valley.

The oil and natural gas industry clinched a crucial victory last Tuesday when the Senate by a wide margin passed legislation that paves the way for future leasing in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. However, the legislative battle is far from over. The Senate and House are now tasked with the responsibility of reconciling two vastly different offshore leasing bills — a feat some believe will test the mettle of even the best Capitol Hill negotiators.

The oil and natural gas industry clinched a crucial victory Tuesday when the Senate by a wide margin passed legislation that paves the way for future leasing in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. However, the legislative battle is far from over. The Senate and House are now tasked with the responsibility of reconciling two vastly different offshore leasing bills — a feat some believe will test the mettle of even the best Capitol Hill negotiators.

NUI Corp. said it will refund $28 million to Elizabethtown Gas customers and pay a $2 million penalty to the state of New Jersey as part of a settlement agreement reached on Wednesday with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU). The settlement follows a focused audit performed by the BPU on NUI and its subsidiaries, NUI Utilities, and Elizabethtown Gas.

El Paso Merchant Energy said a final FERC order issued this week paves the way for it to receive a final $70 million payment from a Goldman Sachs subsidiary for East Coast Power LLC, which owns the gas-fired 940 MW Linden cogeneration facility adjacent to Staten Island in Linden, NJ. The total purchase price paid for the plant was $450 million. At closing in October, GS Linden Power Holdings LLC, paid $380 million with the remainder to follow FERC’s approval. El Paso also announced that it agreed to sell its interest in Mohawk River Funding IV to a subsidiary of Bear Stearns for $4.5 million in cash and the assumption of $75 million in debt. El Paso said MRF IV was formed to securitize a long-term power contract with Connecticut Light and Power Co. While the MRF IV debt is non-recourse to El Paso, the company has, nevertheless, included it and other similar debt when calculating its total obligations senior to common stock. The transaction is subject to FERC approval and is expected to close in February 2004.

FERC on Monday issued a certificate that paves the way for a new pipeline company, NGO Transmission Inc., to acquire 171 miles of existing pipe and storage facilities in central Ohio from a distribution affiliate, but there’s a string attached. If it accepts the certificate, NGO Transmission, contrary to its wishes, would become an interstate gas pipeline subject to the agency’s open-access requirements.

In a deal that paved the way for the Chevron-Texaco merger to be completed last week, Royal Dutch/Shell Group signed a $3.8 billion agreement to buy out Texaco’s two oil refining and marketing joint ventures, making Shell the largest U.S. gasoline refiner with nearly a 15% market share. The sale of Texaco’s joint ventures was confirmed on the last day before the assets were due to go into a trust to allow completion of the Chevron Texaco combination, as specified by the Federal Trade Commission. The $39 billion merger gained approval Tuesday from shareholders of both companies and was completed shortly after the shareholders voted.

After failing to punch through Wednesday’s $6.80 low earlyyesterday, natural gas futures shuffled higher Thursday as traderscovered shorts following a five-day price slide. Over that period,the February contract lost nearly $3 or 30% of its value to closeat $6.909 Wednesday afternoon. February closed at $7.136 yesterday,up 22.7 cents for the session.