Pipe

The $1.9 billion sale in March of Panhandle Eastern Pipe LineCo. and Trunkline Gas Co. to Michigan-based CMS Energy resulted ina one-time gain of $1.82 per share for the first quarter and anafter-tax gain of $660 million, putting Duke earnings for thequarter over results in the same quarter last year. Duke reportedearnings of $2.65 per share, compared with 87 cents in 1Q98.Without the sale, and the absence of an extraordinary item fromlast year’s quarter, basic first-quarter earnings were 83 cents pershare versus 89 cents last year.

Burgeoning gas demand in the southeastern United States andChicago’s supply hub status have spawned another pipeline project.The latest comes from Columbia Gulf Transmission, AGL Resources,and MCN Energy Group. The trio last week began a six-week openseason offering up to 250,000 Dth/d of capacity on the proposedVolunteer Pipeline.

In a terse letter to FERC recently, Cuba Wadlington Jr.,Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line’s senior vice president and generalmanager, became the first pipeline representative to formallycriticize the Commission’s recent departure from its long-standingpolicy of issuing preliminary determinations on pipeline expansionapplications.

A FERC administrative law judge (ALJ) has agreedTranscontinental Gas Pipe Line was well within its rights when itdenied ANR Pipeline an additional interconnection to its mainlinesystem in Louisiana, saying that Transco’s action did notdiscriminate, violate antitrust principles or cause ANR to losebusiness.

A FERC administrative law judge (ALJ) has agreedTranscontinental Gas Pipe Line was well within its rights when itdenied ANR Pipeline an additional interconnection to its mainlinesystem in Louisiana, saying Transco’s action neither wasdiscriminatory, caused ANR to lose business nor violated antitrustprinciples.

In a terse letter to FERC last week, Cuba Wadlington Jr.,Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line’s senior vice president and generalmanager, became the first pipeline representative to formallycriticize the Commission’s recent departure from its long-standingpolicy of issuing preliminary determinations on pipeline expansionapplications. Wadlington said Transco officials are disappointedabout the decision, which affects their MarketLink project, theproposed Independence Pipeline – in which Transco is a partner -the upstream ANR-sponsored SupplyLink project and the competingMillennium Pipeline project.

Current and projected economics will not support any of themajor pipeline expansions to the Northeast from the Midwest atleast until 2004, a new study by Energy ERA, a Calgary, AB-basedenergy consulting firm, concludes. The Portland Natural GasTransmission and Maritimes &amp Northeast pipelines as well as thepipeline expansions currently planned in the Gulf of Mexico will besufficient to meet growing gas demand in the Northeast over thenext few years.

A study released Monday by Energy ERA, a Calgary-based energyconsulting firm, estimated that two scenarios involving differentpipeline expansions – one involving Vector and Millennium andanother involving Independence and MarketLink-from the Midwest intothe Northeast will have the same spot price impact. Both wouldcause an average $0.30/MMBtu price decline in New York Citygateprices over the next five years.

A top-ranking FERC official last week dismissed suggestions thatthe Commission was dragging its feet on key pipeline projects thatwould ship natural gas to the Northeast – namely the proposedMillennium, SupplyLink, MarketLink and Independence lines. “…[W]elove new pipelines,” said Richard O’Neill, director of the Officeof Economic Policy, “but we don’t want these new pipelines to turninto stranded costs.” Also, he cited environmental concerns.