Revamp

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) needs more funding and a larger staff in order to revamp the agency and rules to address “a regulatory system that failed the American people,” according to acting Chairman Michael Dunn.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) needs more funding and a larger staff in order to revamp the agency and rules to address “a regulatory system that failed the American people,” according to acting Chairman Michael Dunn.

Noting that the publication of its Gas Quality Policy Statement (PL04-03) “was not a pretext for pipelines to completely revamp the gas quality and interchangeability standards in their tariffs,” FERC recently rejected an attempt by Northern Natural Gas to make major changes in its quality standards specifications and in the manner those standards are applied or waived.

Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski earlier this month got the oil and gas tax revamp he said was necessary to move ahead with his administration’s plan for a pipeline to bring North Slope gas to Canada and the Lower 48 (see Daily GPI, Aug. 14). But before he can make his pipeline dreams reality he first must get reelected.

The big three North Slope producers — BP plc, ExxonMobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips — may only grudgingly approve of the proposed revamp of Alaska’s oil and natural gas tax system, but independents, including Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Pioneer Natural Resources Corp., are more enthusiastic, executives said last week. The state legislature is conducting hearings on the proposal, which is tied into a tentative deal struck with Gov. Frank Murkowski’s office last month on the long-awaited gas pipeline project.

In a study expected to fuel the debate over federal plans to revamp stringent air pollution regulations, a report released Thursday found that fewer than 20 of the 100 largest U.S. public and private electric companies account for nearly 50% of the emissions from carbon dioxide (CO2), mercury (Hg), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2). The report, which used publicly available company data provided in 2000 to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, noted that four to six companies alone accounted for 25% of emissions of each pollutant.

Rep. William M. “Mac” Thornberry (R-TX) introduced legislationWednesday aimed at “completely overhauling the current system” usedby the federal government to collect royalties on oil and naturalgas production.