Says

The Pipeline Customer Coalition (PCC) says it supports FERC’sproposed revisions to its complaint procedures that would fosterinformal resolution of commercial differences upfront. Theobjective is to speed up the complaint process at the Commission bycutting down on the number of formal complaints filed. Thecoalition believes this can be accomplished by the FERC mandatingthat regulated energy companies make available “carefullydelineated” pre-filing dispute resolution measures for theircustomers’ use.

Capitol Hill lawmakers, federal and state regulators and anumber of power industry representatives last week indicated thatthe results of the FERC staff inquiry into the pricing turmoil inthe Midwest power market were a vindication of their originalsuspicions. Staff proved once and for all, they said, thatelectricity restructuring was not the culprit behind the pricespike in late June, and it found nothing that smacked of marketmanipulation.

Almost a third of gas and oil companies surveyed expect to havecompleted Year-2000 (Y2K) remediation by the end of the year,according to the results of a new survey by the Natural Gas Council (NGC) that was released last week. It further found that73% said they would be ready by June 1999, while all respondentsindicated they would be ready by December 1999.

Over the din of protesters, especially soon-to-be competitorNatural Gas Pipeline Co. of America (NGPL), FERC last week deniedthe majority of rehearing requests and awarded Alliance PipelineL.P. its long-awaited optional certificate to build a majortransportation link between western Canadian production fields andthe U.S. Midwest.

The Australian-owned oil and gas company, Chancellor Group, saysit has signed a letter of intent to acquire from Union PacificResources a half-interest in the Deadwood Field in East Texas for$35 million. The announcement comes on the heels of one made alittle more than a week ago by UPR that it had agreed to sell itsinterests in certain South Texas oil and gas properties to Collins&amp Ware Inc. for $148 million.

The Australian-owned oil and gas company, Chancellor Group, saysit has signed a letter of intent to acquire from Union PacificResources a half-interest in the Deadwood Field in East Texas for$35 million. The announcement comes on the heels of one made lastFriday by UPR that it had agreed to sell its interests in certainSouth Texas oil and gas properties to Collins & Ware Inc. for$148 million.

The Australian-owned oil and gas company, Chancellor Group, saysit has signed a letter of intent to acquire from Union PacificResources a half-interest in the Deadwood Field in East Texas for$35 million. The announcement comes on the heels of one made lastFriday by UPR that it had agreed to sell its interests in certainSouth Texas oil and gas properties to Collins & Ware Inc. for$148 million.

The proposed Alliance Pipeline, with the adoption of certainmitigation measures, would have “limited adverse environmentalimpact and would be an environmentally acceptable action,”according to a final environmental impact statement (FEIS) on theproject that was issued Monday.

Barring the potential for additional gas demand that couldresult from the Kyoto global-warming accord, the Gas ResearchInstitute (GRI) yesterday projected that domestic natural gasconsumption will rise by about 30%, or 9.5 quadrillion Btus(quads), to nearly 32 quads by 2015. It predicts that producers,both in the United States and Canada, will be able to meet thedemand challenge, but it conceded that the road ahead won’t be aneasy one.