Pennsylvania

Dominion Transmission Inc. has filed an application at FERC to upgrade and enhance storage and pipeline facilities in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York.

Dominion Transmission Inc. has filed an application at FERC to upgrade and enhance storage and pipeline facilities in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York.

Mariner Energy said it restarted about 50 MMcfe/d of gas production from its Ochre and Pluto deepwater Gulf of Mexico projects, which were shut in because of hurricane activity last year and in 2004. Ochre, located in Mississippi Canyon Block 66, was shut in following Hurricane Ivan. Production has been restored at about 10.5 MMcfe/d. Mariner operates Ochre with a 75% working interest and Stone Energy has a 25% working interest. Pluto, located in Mississippi Canyon Block 718, was shut in for the drilling and completion of a new well. Start-up was delayed due to Hurricane Katrina. Production from Pluto has recommenced and the well is currently producing at a gross rate of 40 MMcfe/d. Mariner expects to achieve a gross production rate in the range of 40-50 MMcfe/d. Mariner operates Pluto with a 51% working interest and W&T Offshore has a 49% working interest. Mariner estimates that most of its remaining production shut in due to the damage caused by the 2005 hurricanes will recommence during the fourth quarter of 2006.

Mariner Energy said it restarted about 50 MMcfe/d of gas production from its Ochre and Pluto deepwater Gulf of Mexico projects, which were shut in because of hurricane activity last year and in 2004. Ochre, located in Mississippi Canyon Block 66, was shut in following Hurricane Ivan. Production has been restored at about 10.5 MMcfe/d. Mariner operates Ochre with a 75% working interest and Stone Energy has a 25% working interest. Pluto, located in Mississippi Canyon Block 718, was shut in for the drilling and completion of a new well. Start-up was delayed due to Hurricane Katrina. Production from Pluto has recommenced and the well is currently producing at a gross rate of 40 MMcfe/d. Mariner expects to achieve a gross production rate in the range of 40-50 MMcfe/d. Mariner operates Pluto with a 51% working interest and W&T Offshore has a 49% working interest. Mariner estimates that most of its remaining production shut in due to the damage caused by the 2005 hurricanes will recommence during the fourth quarter of 2006.

Dominion is investigating the possible sale of four merchant power plants located in Indiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, CEO Tom Farrell told investors during a conference call last week. Meanwhile, the company is keeping an eye on the Point Beach nuclear power plant, which could be put up for sale by Wisconsin Energy.

Eastern Shore Natural Gas (ESNG), a subsidiary of Chesapeake Utilities, received FERC approval for a $33.6 million, 36% increase (47,450 Dth/d) in its pipeline capacity in Delaware and Pennsylvania in 2006, 2007 and 2008. The project will add 55 miles of pipeline looping and two new delivery points.

House Republicans from Pennsylvania on Wednesday criticized the Interior Department’s proposed fall 2007 time table for leasing additional acreage in the natural gas-prone offshore area known as Lease 181 in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

Having lost its chief financial officer (CFO) who left to enter a new industry in Pennsylvania, Albuquerque, NM-based PNM Resources Monday said it reached into the public power sector for a new CFO, naming Charles N. Eldred to that position. Eldred, 52, comes from Omaha (NE) Public Power District, where he has been CFO since 1999.

Pennsylvania-based Southern Union Co. extended its nationwide natural gas pipeline network Friday, announcing it will pay $1.6 billion in cash to purchase the privately held Sid Richardson Energy Services Co. of Fort Worth. The company, started by legendary wildcatter Sid Richardson and his nephew Perry Bass in 1947, includes 4,000 miles of gas pipe in West Texas and New Mexico.