Policy

The Coastal Corp. said Herbert W. Cole was elected vicepresident, accounting policy and operational compliance, of CoastalOil & Gas. Cole will be responsible for regulatory accounting,contract compliance and special projects for Coastal’s explorationand production (E&P) business. Cole joined Coastal in 1984 andhas served as assistant controller, budgeting and financialaccounting of Coastal Oil & Gas since 1995.

FERC made three small but significant changes to its pipelinerate of return policy this week, winning the praise of theInterstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), whichrepresents the pipelines. INGAA President Jerald V. Halvorsen saidthe Commission’s action “should help pipelines compete in theincreasingly competitive financial markets for the capital to buildprojects that are necessary to meet projections of a 30 Tcf naturalgas economy by 2010.”

A rate hike proposal of Northern Natural Gas that has thepotential to cause a showdown at FERC over key policy issues got acool reception last week from Midwest municipals and smalldistributors on Northern’s system.

Giving pipelines the presumption in favor of rolled-in rates mayhave been a good idea a couple of years ago, but CommissionerWilliam Massey says he’s now beginning to have second thoughtsabout that decision.