Ruling

El Paso Corp. said subsidiary El Paso Oil & Gas Canada Acquisition Inc. earlier this month received an advance ruling from the Canadian Competition Bureau regarding its proposal to acquire all the shares of Velvet Exploration Ltd. The Commissioner of Competition indicated El Paso would not be subjected to the regulatory process dealing with matters of competition, which keeps El Paso on track to complete the deal in the third quarter. The next step is to obtain approval under the Investment Canada Act, which requires review of significant non-Canadian investments in Canada. Under the terms of El Paso’s offer, which was announced on June 14, Velvet shareholders would receive C$8.15 in cash for each Velvet common share, or a total of about US$280 million, including the assumption of US$52 million.

Months after an arbitrator awarded American Central GasTechnologies Co. $8.3 million in a ruling that Union PacificResources (UPR) and Duke Energy Field Services (DEFS) hadmonopolized natural gas processing in Panola County, TX, thecompanies are at it again, this time in an East Texas districtcourtroom (see NGI, Aug. 14, 2000).

Months after an arbitrator awarded American Central GasTechnologies Co. $8.3 million in a ruling that Union PacificResources (UPR) and Duke Energy Field Services (DEFS) hadmonopolized natural gas processing in Panola County, TX, thecompanies are at it again, this time in an East Texas districtcourtroom (see Daily GPI, Aug. 10, 2000).

Taking its cue from FERC’s Dec. 15 ruling on reforms in theCalifornia power markets, a national group of municipal gasdistributors last week called on the Commission to immediatelyissue an order that would set $2.74/Mcf as the benchmark price fornatural gas over the next three years, and would provide forcustomer refunds for any sales above that level.

Another Canadian takeover bid by Hunt Oil and a snap decisionduring the holiday season by the National Energy Board, highlightthe industry’s eagerness to take advantage of soaring gas marketswith new Canadian supplies.

FERC has rejected a complaint that called for the New YorkIndependent System Operator (NYISO) to change its market rules andsoftware by Aug. 1 to permit bidding by non-physical entities(power marketers) in the electric market there.

In response to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities’ rulingthis week on rate increases for three utilities in the state,Public Service Electric and Gas Co. (PSE&G) releasedsuggestions for how its $1.6 million natural gas customers canconserve energy and manage bills.

FERC last week held firm to its July order in which it awarded amuch-sought-after certificate to the controversial IndependencePipeline, rejecting numerous requests to reconsider whether theproject’s precedent agreements were binding and its market needjustified. Federal regulators also gave the go-ahead for Phase IIof ANR Pipeline’s Wisconsin expansion, a Reliant Energy GasTransmission looping expansion in Arkansas, and accorded apreliminary determination to Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line for itsproposed Sundance expansion in the Southeast.

Washington D.C.-based Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco) isseeking a stay in a lower court in Maryland of a July 1 orderissued by state regulators, which restricts the businessrelationship between in-state electric and gas utilities and theirnon-regulated subsidiaries.