Receives

Gaining the final regulatory approval necessary, Piedmont Natural Gas said the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved its requested exemption under the Public Utility Holding Company Act in connection with the pending purchase of North Carolina Natural Gas Corp. (NCNG) and 50% of Eastern North Carolina Natural Gas (ENCNG) from Progress Energy, Inc.

New Jersey Resources Corp.’s New Jersey Natural Gas Co. (NJNG) received approval Tuesday from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) for an 8.7% increase in prices. The company filed for the increase as a result of higher wholesale natural gas prices, noting that since last winter, prices have at times reached levels more than double the prior year on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Sempra Energy’s Cameron (previously Hackberry) LNG terminal on the Gulf Coast received its final approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Thursday for the construction of a 1.5 Bcf/d LNG receiving terminal on the site of an old petroleum gas facility on the Calcasieu Ship Channel in Louisiana.

Sempra Energy’s Cameron (previously Hackberry) LNG terminal on the Gulf Coast received its final approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Thursday for the construction of a 1.5 Bcf/d LNG receiving terminal on the site of an old petroleum gas facility on the Calcasieu Ship Channel in Louisiana.

Despite experiencing a slight decline in income from its natural gas transmission business, TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. on Friday said its first quarter 2003 earnings marked an 11% increase over the company’s first quarter 2002 results. The company attributed the higher earnings to the strong performance of the power business and reduced net expenses in the corporate segment, partially offset by lower earnings from the transmission segment.

The first and most complex of four proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals in Baja California was approved Thursday by Mexico’s Comision Reguladora de Energia (CRE). Marathon Oil Corp. and its joint development partners, Grupo GGS S.A. de C.V. and Golar LNG Limited, announced that their operating company, Gas Natural Baja California, received a storage permit for the Tijuana Regional Energy Center.

Despite experiencing a slight decline in income from its natural gas transmission business, TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. on Friday said its first quarter 2003 earnings marked an 11% increase over the company’s first quarter 2002 results. The company attributed the higher earnings to the strong performance of the power business and reduced net expenses in the corporate segment, partially offset by lower earnings from the transmission segment.

The first and most complex of four proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals in Baja California was approved Thursday by Mexico’s Comision Reguladora de Energia (CRE). Marathon Oil Corp. and its joint development partners, Grupo GGS S.A. de C.V. and Golar LNG Limited, announced that their operating company, Gas Natural Baja California, received a storage permit for the Tijuana Regional Energy Center.

Kern River Gas Transmission received final authorization from FERC on Friday to begin transportation services May 1 on its massive 2003 Expansion Project. Company officials told the Commission last Monday that construction was on schedule and shippers needed about seven days to line up gas supply and market commitments and to make their nominations on the pipeline.