Possible

In response to national concerns over a possible natural gasshortage this winter, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission has givenproducers with unallocated gas wells in Oklahoma the go-ahead tocontinue their increase in production to the limit.

Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) issued a report lastweek outlining the possible avenues retail marketing will take asit matures. The report, ‘Customer Choice in the Information Age:North American Retail Energy Scenarios to 2015’, forecasts thedifferent situations that would develop based on how fast regulatedutilities exit retail markets.

The gas industry seems more than eager to pipe as much methaneas possible into Florida to satisfy the state’s gluttonous appetitefor gas-fired power generation. Two major Gulf of Mexico pipelinestargeting the state were granted preliminary approval by FERC lastweek, and another two projects were announced, including amid-sized greenfield pipeline planned by El Paso and Enron.

After Alaska’s governor balked at a move by BP Amoco to pushconsideration of its ARCO acquisition through the Federal TradeCommission, the company has backed off and pledged to address thestate’s anti-competitive concerns. Discussions between the companyand Alaska were ongoing last week.

Crystal Gas Storage Inc. of Shreveport, LA, is reviewing itsoptions, including the possible sale of the company. Theindependent gas storage company hired Goldman, Sachs & Co. toassist with the strategic review and said no transactions arepending. The company said there would be no more announcementsunless and until a deal comes about or the effort is scrapped.Crystal Gas Storage owns and operates, through wholly ownedsubsidiaries, two storage facilities near Hattiesburg, MS, andholds various interests in gas properties, primarily in Arkansasand Louisiana.

After warning shippers Wednesday that one was possible, FloridaGas Transmission issued an Overage Alert Day notice for Thursday’sgas day due to high market-area demand. The notice has a 6%tolerance for daily negative imbalances and covers the system eastof Station 12 (Santa Rosa County in the Florida Panhandle). Thepipeline will re-evaluate conditions this morning before decidingwhether to extend the notice.

With possible national implications, California has proposed astate law that would impose “public goods” surcharges on all gassold for consumption within the state, including gas delivered byseveral proposed federally-regulated interstate pipelines that seekto bypass local distributors and directly serve large industrialcustomers. The fees would support energy efficiency,weatherization, public interest energy research and development,and low-income programs. The proposed change undergoes its firstpublic scrutiny in a legislative committee hearing in Sacramento onApril 19. If passed it is sure to splinter the gas industry betweenintra-and interstate interests.

In the race to obtain as much of the bounteous Florida market aspossible, Williams has taken the early lead over Coastal as thecompany reported 1.3 Bcf/d in nominations received during theBuccaneer Pipeline open season. The open season ended in lateMarch.

In an effort to capture the rewards and pass along savings madepossible by performance-based rates, NIPSCO Industries and its newaffiliate, Bay State Gas, are combining gas supply operations. Thetwo LDCs, which became sister companies when NIPSCO parent NIbought Bay State in February, expect to save as much as $1million/year through combined portfolio management, according toone source.