Potential

Fearing the potential side effects of waivers on the interstatemarket, FERC last week decided to give Atlanta Gas Light (AGL) onlya short-term extension of its waivers to Commission regulations topreserve the “status quo” of retail gas unbundling in Georgia whileit explores other non-waiver solutions for utilities.

A 66% jump in Canadian exports is conceivable-all the way to an18% share of the total gas market in the United States, theNational Energy Board says in a landmark forecast. A new NEBreport, Canadian Energy Supply and Demand to 2025, says exportscould climb to a peak of 5 Tcf/year in 2018 if prices andtechnology make gradual but steady improvements.

A 66% jump in Canadian exports is conceivable-all the way to an18% share of the total gas market in the United States, theNational Energy Board says in a landmark forecast. A new NEBreport, Canadian Energy Supply and Demand to 2025, says exportscould climb to a peak of 5 Tcf/year in 2018 if prices andtechnology make gradual but steady improvements.

Pipeline import capacity in the Northeast sub-region could fallshy of natural gas demand by more than 5 Bcf/d by 2010 if nosignificant capacity additions are constructed during the period,according to a new study by the Edison Electric Institute (EEI)that was released last week. The shortfall is predicatedon existingimport capacity in the sub-region remaining fairly constant at 12.4Bcf/d over the next decade, while the daily winter gas demand forthe area expands to about 17.5 Bcf/d.

National Fuel Gas Supply Corp. and ANR Pipeline, sponsors of theproposed Independence Pipeline, are espousing a system alternativethat essentially would result in a considerably scaled-down versionof the competing Millennium Pipeline project.

National Fuel Gas Supply Corp. and ANR Pipeline, sponsors of theproposed Independence Pipeline, are espousing a system alternativethat essentially would result in a considerably scaled-down projectfor the competing Millennium Pipeline project.

U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ChairmanFrank Murkowski (R-AK) is planning to take a closer look at thepotential impact on his home state and on the West Coast of theproposed merger of BP Amoco and Atlantic Richfield Co. Thecommittee has scheduled a hearing on June 24 at 9 a.m. to reviewthe merger. BP Amoco-Arco would hold 75% of the Alaska North Slopeoil fields and a similar share of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.It also would have control over 90% of the crude oil delivered tothe West Coast. Its property holdings in Alaska would far exceedthe maximum allowed by state law, although the companies said theyplan to divest some of their leases. The merger would create thelargest oil producer in the U.S. and the world’s second-largestpublicly traded oil firm, with a market capitalization of about$200 billion.

The potential for selling to several gas-fired merchant powerplants in the area is what prompted Denver-based Western GasResources to enter California’s increasingly crowded natural gasmarket by getting an option to buy a Shell-Mobil gathering anddelivery system in northern California. Included in the proposeddeal that should be wrapped up by year-end are 170 miles oftwo-inch- and 10-inch-diameter pipelines crossing more than a dozenlocal gas fields between the Sacramento Airport north of thecapital and the industrialized north Contra Costa County to thesouthwest, where there are substantial existing and proposed largeindustrial loads.

A new administrative decision subjecting transportation ofelectricity to New York’s sales tax has the potential to underminethe state’s fledgling efforts to restructure its retail powermarkets, says the head of a trade group representing energymarketers and other suppliers.