Reviews

Under a stipulated agreement with the Georgia Public Service Commission, Southern Company Gas (SCG) will credit $45,000 to some of its customer accounts and contribute $100,000 to Georgia’s Low Income Heat Energy Assistance Program to settle a case in which it allegedly sent out 97,000 improper disconnect notices to the state’s customers.

Although the record-setting storage injection numbers and drop in gas prices last week were encouraging signs, Charles Schwab energy analyst Christine Tezak says she wouldn’t rule out Washington possibly interfering in the gas markets over the next year by either capping prices or ordering supply rationing if market conditions should take a turn for the worse.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) said last week it has been notified by federal investigators that they are conducting an informal probe of the company’s accounting treatment of its purchase of Tejas Gas LLC.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) said Monday it has been notified by federal investigators that they are conducting an informal probe of the company’s accounting treatment of its purchase of Tejas Gas LLC.

Following critical reviews by two major investment houses, Hagerstown, MD-based Allegheny Energy last week announced it is slashing its expected 2002 earnings guidance and is executing plans to reduce operating and capital expenditures for the rest of the year and beyond, including the cancellation of a combined 1,168 MW of planned generation in Arizona and Indiana and the elimination of about 10% of its workforce, or 600 jobs. Having already eliminated eight positions from its energy marketing and trading division in the second quarter, officials with Allegheny Energy last week weren’t ruling out the possibility of further cuts from that part of company as part of the overall head count reduction.

At the urging of U.S. Rep. William J. Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ) and 22 other House lawmakers, the General Accounting Office (GAO) has agreed to carry out another review of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to assess how the agency’s deregulation activities and its failure to properly oversee energy companies have directly affected consumers.

The transaction, subject to approval by Pennzoil’s stockholders and customary regulatory reviews, is expected to close in the second half of 2002 and is expected to add to Shell’s earnings and cash flow in the first full year after it is completed. Shell’s estimated pre-tax benefits from the transaction will total about $140 million a year by 2004. One-time transaction costs were estimated at $100 million.

Canada’s newly appointed natural resources minister is considering ending a ban against drilling in one of the nation’s most environmentally-sensitive spots, the Queen Charlotte Islands area offshore of British Columbia. Herb Dhaliwal pledged to keep an open mind — and hinted at adopting an encouraging attitude toward industry expansion in British Columbia — after an introductory meeting in Calgary with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. Dhaliwal said he will be “very interested” to see the forthcoming report of a review panel that has been reconsidering Canada’s 30-year-old West Coast drilling moratorium since last summer.

There was a divergence of opinion last week within the gasindustry on President Bush’s broken campaign promise to press forrestrictions on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from powergeneration. Several energy officials, some within the same industryassociations, had different positions on the matter.