Restore

In an effort to restore its financial liquidity, El Paso Corp. said Tuesday two pipeline subsidiaries, Southern Natural Gas (Sonat) and ANR Pipeline, will launch note offerings this week to obtain $700 million. Most of the proceeds will be used to pay the parent company for transferring its ownership interests in Florida Gas Transmission (FGT) and Great Lakes Gas Transmission to Sonat and ANR, respectively.

To increase the capital availability for energy markets and restore investor confidence, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission must finish with the California refund claims, western contract disputes, the El Paso Corp. complaint case, standard market design (SMD) and investigations into trading irregularities — and most of all, provide a climate of regulatory certainty, said energy analysts, rating agencies and capital investors Thursday.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last Wednesday ordered two Duke Energy gas pipelines to revise the right-of-first-refusal (ROFR) provisions in their tariffs to give firm shippers paying maximum rates the opportunity to review third-party bids for capacity under expiring transportation contracts, even in cases where shippers signal an intention to terminate their contracts.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Wednesday ordered two Duke Energy gas pipelines to revise the right-of-first-refusal (ROFR) provisions in their tariffs to give firm shippers paying maximum rates the opportunity to review third-party bids for capacity under expiring transportation contracts, even in cases where shippers signal an intention to terminate their contracts.

Seven energy brokerage companies have formed a new group, the Energy Brokers Association (EBA) in Washington, DC, that seeks to restore the credibility of the energy trading industry by establishing codes of conduct and standards for over-the-counter (OTC) physical and derivative transactions involving a range of energy products.

Seven energy brokerage companies have formed a new group, the Energy Brokers Association (EBA) in Washington, DC, that seeks to restore the credibility of the energy trading industry by establishing codes of conduct and standards for over-the-counter (OTC) physical and derivative transactions involving a range of energy products.

As its affiliated utility works to restore an investment-grade credit rating, Edison International’s merchant energy operator, Edison Mission Energy (EME), was moving in reverse last week, attracting a below-investment-grade credit downgrade from Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Wednesday on the heels of Tuesday’s second-quarter report of a loss for its power plant operations. Ironically, uncertainty regarding the California Public Utilities Commission’s future oversight of the Edison utility was cited as a prime reason for the downgrade.

In an effort to restore its financial strength and confirm its investment grade credit rating, The Williams Companies has agreed to sell Kern River Gas Transmission and 1.47 million shares of convertible preferred stock (each convertible to 10 WMB common shares) to Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co.

Williams took the next step last week in a process to restore its financial strength and investor confidence. The company announced it was putting its Memphis and Alaska refineries and related petroleum assets up for sale. Williams estimates the transactions will add up to $1 billion and be concluded by the end of the year.