Planning

Jamie Olis, Dynegy Inc.’s former senior director of tax planning, was resentenced in Houston Friday to six years in prison. Olis had been convicted in 2003 and sentenced to 24 years in prison for his part in helping Dynegy inflate its reported cash flow in 2001 through a complex scheme known as Project Alpha (see Daily GPI, Nov. 17, 2003).

The current higher commodity price environment “will drive higher earnings over the planning horizon” at Constellation Energy Group, the company’s chief financial officer (CFO) said on Thursday during a Lehman Brothers conference in New York City.

Eastern Shore Natural Gas Co. (ESNG), a subsidiary of Chesapeake Utilities, announced Friday it is planning an interstate pipeline expansion to add 60,000 Dth/d of capacity into its delivery area on the Delmarva Peninsula. This will increase the line’s capacity by about 33% and would be the largest expansion since the line was built in 1959.

Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) is planning to offer legislation that would give U.S. producers an exemption to explore for oil and natural gas in the Cuban waters of the Florida Straits.

Duke Energy said Algonquin Gas Transmission is planning a new 3.5 mile, 18-inch diameter natural gas pipeline in the Cape Cod towns of Sandwich and Bourne, MA, to serve gas customer growth. “The Cape Cod Lateral will provide KeySpan with firm natural gas transportation service to continue reliably supplying the growing Cape Cod market,” said Bill Yardley, vice president, marketing, business development and customer service. The proposed pipeline and related facilities will provide KeySpan with 38,000 Dth/d of firm capacity under a 15-year agreement. “Over the past few years, we’ve experienced increased demand for natural gas on Cape Cod as more homeowners are catching onto the benefits of this clean and environmentally friendly heating fuel,” said Nicholas Stavropoulos, president of KeySpan Energy Delivery. “This project, if approved, will provide additional capacity and enable KeySpan to maintain system reliability and enhance delivery capability throughout the Cape Cod area.” An application for the expansion was filed April 21 with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Service is expected in November 2007.

Kern River said that linepack is high on all areas of its system. As reported last week, Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) is planning maintenance on Line 225 Tuesday through Thursday that will reduce the total available capacity at Wheeler Ridge to 140 MMcf, a reduction of 740 MMcf. The available capacity will be allocated to the upstream pipelines, Kern/Mojave, Pacific Gas & Electric, and Occidental, based on the respective scheduled quantity from two days prior.Columbia Gas said that Tuesday will be deemed to be a “Critical Day” in Market Area 21. Based on forecasted markets, available facilities and capacity utilization, the pipeline projects that all available capacity to Market Area 21 will be required to meet firm service obligations, leaving no excess capacity. Therefore, zero non-firm capacity is available to that market area.

NiSource subsidiary Columbia Gulf Transmission Co. said Wednesday it is planning a new interconnection with Texas Eastern Transmission Co. near the town of Columbia in Adair County, KY. Scheduled for service in the fourth quarter of 2006, the new connection will enable Columbia Gulf to deliver up to 200,000 Dth/d from its Mainline Zone into Texas Eastern’s Zone M-2.

In an effort to provide Ohio customers with more gas supply diversity, North Coast Gas Transmission LLC said Thursday that it is planning a 350 MMcf/d gas pipeline expansion in Ohio that will provide access to Rocky Mountain production scheduled to arrive in the state through Kinder Morgan’s proposed Rockies Express pipeline (see Daily GPI, March 1). The expansion also will increase access to the Chicago Hub and to existing and potentially new gas storage facilities in the state.

Equitable Resources Inc. announced Thursday it is planning construction of a 60-mile, 20-inch Big Sandy Pipeline in Eastern Kentucky to increase takeaway capacity for growing Appalachian production, both its own and that of third parties. And that is just the beginning. The project is part of the production, marketing and utility company’s plan to significantly increase midstream investment.