Regulatory

The proposed $15 billion merger of energy giants El Paso EnergyCorp. and Sonat Inc. got a regulatory go-ahead yesterday from FERC,clearing the way for the transaction to close by early October.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has outlined thestructure of its new Office of Markets, Tariffs and Rates (OMTR),part of its FERC First reorganization. The office, headed by DanielL. Larcamp, will include three geographic divisions of rates andtariffs for gas and electric services. Michael A. Coleman, from theOffice of Electric Power Regulation will serve as director of thewest division; Robert J. Cupina, from the Office of PipelineRegulation (OPR) will serve as director of the central division andAlice Fernandez from OPR will serve as director of the Eastdivision.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved theabandonment by Avoca Natural Gas Storage of its unfinished saltcavern storage facility in southwestern New York State. Theabandonment order issued last week follows Avoca’s bankruptcyproceedings and plans for sale of the facility to Northeastern GasCaverns LLC, a New York company.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved theabandonment by Avoca Natural Gas Storage of its unfinished saltcavern storage facility in southwestern New York State. Theabandonment order issued Monday follows Avoca’s bankruptcyproceedings and plans for sale of the facility to Northeastern GasCaverns LLC, a New York company.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is looking forvolunteers for a pilot project for electronic filing of documentsin Commission proceedings over the Internet beginning Oct. 1, 1999.The pilot will test FERC’s computer systems and be limited tomotions and notices to intervene, protests, comments and relatedfilings. Participants must still file paper copies during thetesting period.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced lastweek it wants to hold a half-day public conference Sept. 29 toaddress the “steady flow” of Congressional inquiries into theIndependence and MarketLink pipeline projects. The conference willbe used to gather “supplemental information” on the market need forthe projects but the Commission said it does not intend to reopenthe record on them.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission yesterday significantlyraised the bar for interstate pipelines seeking to construct newprojects by requiring that the proposed facilities be able to standon their own financially.

ARCO and BP Amoco shareholders approved the proposed $27 billioncombination of the two companies last week, but the combinationremains subject to the approval of regulatory authorities,including the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the EuropeanCommission. It’s expected to close later in the year. The all-sharedeal will involve the exchange of 0.82 BP Amoco American DepositoryShares (ADS) for each ARCO share.

Mexico’s energy regulatory commission (CRE) created thePuebla-Tlaxcala geographic zone for gas distribution. The zonecovers 51 municipalities in the two states. An investment of about$50 million is expected to develop the project, and Gaz de Francehas expressed an interest.