Raising

Royal Dutch Shell plc said Tuesday it has reached agreement with Shell Canada’s board and is raising its bid on all of Shell Canada’s outstanding shares to C$45/share from C$40, which represents a value of about $8.7 billion.

A natural gas partnership spun off by utilities giant Constellation Energy Group Inc. (CEG) on Wednesday earned modest success, raising $94.5 million on 4.5 million common units. Constellation Energy Partners LLC, formed as a subsidiary by CEG in February 2005, was forecast to earn between $19 and $21 per unit, and it was trading in the high end of the forecast at midday.

Agreeing with the intent of lowering financial risk and raising credit ratings, the Idaho Public Utilities Commission Wednesday approved Avista Corp.’s proposal to reorganize, creating a still-to-be-renamed holding company for Avista Utilities, which serves electricity and natural gas customers in northern Idaho. The PUC noted that last year’s repeal of the federal Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA) allows multi-state utilities like Avista to form holding companies.

New York State regulators Wednesday voted to adopt, with modifications, the terms of an amended joint proposal raising the rates of Corning Natural Gas Corp., but requiring the company to credit customers with $1.4 million for “excessive gas commodity costs” last winter when the utility had to receive emergency supplies of natural gas from other utilities because it was running out of gas and credit. The regulatory action came after a Pennsylvania distribution company, C&T Enterprises, earlier in the month agreed to buy Corning.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has scheduled a public meeting Tuesday in Reston, VA, to explore the possibility of raising the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) for certain natural gas pipelines — a move that would allow more gas to flow through the pipelines and potentially reduce the need for new construction in some cases.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has scheduled a public meeting next Tuesday in Reston, VA, to explore the possibility of raising the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) for certain natural gas pipelines — a move that would allow more gas to flow through the pipelines and potentially reduce the need for new construction in some cases.

Comstock Resources Inc. said Wednesday it is raising its 2006 capital expenditure budget for development and exploration activities by 67% over the previous year to $200 million. In 2005, the Frisco, TX-based company spent $120 million on E&P.

After modifying Wednesday’s systemwide Stage 2 high-inventory OFO to a Stage 3 order and raising penalties to $5/Dth for positive imbalances exceeding a 5% tolerance, Pacific Gas & Electric lifted the OFO for Thursday.

After raising its natural gas futures related margins five times in a month to deal with escalating prices (see Daily GPI, Sept 23), the New York Mercantile Exchange Inc. (Nymex) finally announced a decline in margins on Thursday. Nymex said it will decrease margins for its natural gas futures, Henry Hub swap futures, Nymex miNY natural gas futures, Henry Hub swing swap futures, and Henry Hub penultimate swap futures contracts, effective at the close of business Friday.