Saying its Washington Ranch Storage Field was experiencingmaximum withdrawals, El Paso declared an Unauthorized OverpullPenalty situation effective Thursday until further notice. Thepipeline said it would limit scheduled volumes at underperforminginterconnects to insure system integrity.
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Articles from Saying
Calpine’s Buying Binge Engulfs CGCA
Acquisitive Calpine Corp. stuck to its strategy last Friday,saying it agreed to buy 80% of the Minneapolis, MN-basedCogeneration Corp. of America (CGCA) for $145 million. The proposedacquisition will increase Calpine’s gas-fired energy production to2,476 net MW of capacity, representing a 20% jump in production.Calpine expects to complete the deal in January.
OK Delays Retail Unbundling, Blames ONG
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) delayed the state’sretail gas unbundling 20 months, saying tax and other issues needmore consideration and noting upstream unbundling must come firstanyway.
El Paso Takes Another Stab at Expanding Bondad
Believing in the saying that “if at first you don’t succeed, tryagain,” El Paso began a new open season Friday to solicit interestin firm service agreements to move gas on an expansion of theBondad Line in the San Juan Basin. A previous attempt at a Bondadexpansion ultimately broke down after FERC rejected some of thetariff provisions last year, leading the primary expansion shipperto withdraw from the project and FERC to vacate its projectcertification (see Daily GPI, Jan. 7, 1998; Oct. 19, 1998; Dec. 11,1998; and Jan. 18, 1999).
El Paso Takes Another Stab at Expanding Bondad Line
Believing in the saying that “if at first you don’t succeed, tryagain,” El Paso began a new open season Friday to solicit interestin firm service agreements to move gas on an expansion of theBondad Line in San Juan Basin. A previous attempt at a Bondadexpansion ultimately broke down after FERC rejected some of thetariff provisions last year, leading the primary expansion shipperto withdraw from the project and FERC to vacate its projectcertification (see NGI, Sept. 7, 1998; Oct. 19, 1998; Dec. 14,1998; and Jan. 18, 1999).
PGW Exits Electricity, Cuts Marketing Dept.
Saying it wants to focus on its core gas business, PhiladelphiaGas Works (PGW) has abandoned its entry into electricity marketingand several other retail marketing ventures and will reduce thesize of its marketing staff. PGW is the nation’s largestmunicipally owned utility.
CA. Regulators Toward Gas Unbundling
California regulators took another step toward unbundling thenatural gas business in the state last week, issuing proposedguidelines and saying it will remove limits on the state’sseven-year core aggregation program, meaning any size core customereventually will be able to choose a new supplier.
August Futures Turn to Access Trading For Price Move
Many people have been saying August is a difficult futurescontract to trade right now because of a lack of clear cut marketdirection, and the last two trading days have proven those peoplecorrect. After closing unchanged Tuesday, the August contract wasonly able to gain 0.1 cents to settle Wednesday at $2.366. “How amI supposed to make a living in this kind of environment?” a brokerjested.
Shippers Blast Transco’s MarketLink Project
Existing shippers on Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line haveshredded the pipeline company’s $529 million MarketLink expansionproject, saying it should be rejected by the Commission, or Transcoshould be put at risk for the cost. The project would add 154 milesof pipeline looping and 62,400 hp of compression along Transco’sLeidy Line, which extends from the Leidy hub in westernPennsylvania to New York City.
April Futures Remain Bound to Tight Range
Just as the old saying about the lion and the lamb goes, no onecan ever be sure what kind of weather March will bring. This lackof clear fundamental direction has made its way to the New YorkMercantile Exchange, where the spot April contract was unable tobreak outside of a tight $2.115-$2.205 trading range last week.Since April had virtually no room to move, it is fitting the spotmonth could settle the week only 0.8 cents higher at $2.137.