Rules

Several initiatives to increase domestic natural gas and oil production are included in the Minerals Management Service (MMS) Final Notice of Sale for Western Gulf of Mexico Sale 184, scheduled for Aug. 21 in New Orleans. The Final Notice was published in Thursday’s Federal Register. Along with the incentives, MMS has included the new required provisions to protect certain endangered and threatened species. The sale will be the first one scheduled under MMS’s current five-year leasing program, which will run through 2007 (see NGI, April 19).

Several initiatives to increase domestic natural gas and oil production are included in the Minerals Management Service (MMS) Final Notice of Sale for Western Gulf of Mexico Sale 184, scheduled for Aug. 21 in New Orleans. The Final Notice was published in Thursday’s Federal Register. Along with the incentives, MMS has included the new required provisions to protect certain endangered and threatened species. The sale will be the first one scheduled under MMS’s current five-year leasing program, which will run through 2007 (see Daily GPI, April 18).

Several initiatives to increase domestic natural gas and oil production are included in the Minerals Management Service (MMS) Final Notice of Sale for Western Gulf of Mexico Sale 184, scheduled for Aug. 21 in New Orleans. The Final Notice was published in Thursday’s Federal Register. Along with the incentives, MMS has included the new required provisions to protect certain endangered and threatened species. The sale will be the first one scheduled under MMS’s current five-year leasing program, which will run through 2007 (see Daily GPI, April 18).

The sale of natural gas in Nova Scotia will remain open to competition. However, now the distributor will be allowed to sell natural gas directly during a seven-year development period — and others may market natural gas as well. Also, large industrial users will be able to connect directly with an offshore supply of gas before it goes into the Maritimes and Northeast pipeline.

Mostly flat numbers made it three days in a row Monday as the dominant market characteristic. Whereas small declines outweighed the small upticks on Friday, there was more of a tendency toward slightly higher pricing yesterday.

As early as today an announcement may be forthcoming that downtown Houston rival Dynegy Corp. may ride to the rescue of Enron Corp. in either a merger or a $2 billion cash infusion through its 27% shareholder ChevronTexaco. Several sources, including the The Wall Street Journal, report that the companies’ directors were in talks to work out a deal to revive Enron — still responsible for 25% of the energy trades made around the world. Neither Dynegy nor Enron would comment.

In an effort to help consumers in the state of Ohio this winter, the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC) said it has requested that the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) “reconsider” part of an order issued Oct. 16. The OCC claims that part of the order that oversees customers’ emergency reconnection of natural gas and electric service could leave some consumers out in the cold this winter. For 60 days, the order allows all natural gas and electric public utilities to take up to three days to reconnect certain customers currently without heat.

As an outgrowth of the winter-spring energy price and supply crunch that spawned a statewide emergency and two special sessions of the state legislature, California wound up this week with two new bills designed to promote cheaper, more reliable natural gas supplies. Gov. Gray Davis signed the bills (AB 1233 and AB 21XX) over the weekend.

At press time yesterday, the powerful House Rules Committee had not given its go-ahead to allow the full House to vote on an amendment that would derail the prospects for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), and to limit the number of amendments that could be offered during debate of the omnibus energy bill that is expected to begin this week.